The Fakest Things Alive
by BearfootTruck
Summary: While out on a mission to collect some parts for a new weapon that Rotor is constructing, Sonic goes missing. So, the Knothole Freedom Fighters set out to find Sonic, while our favorite blue hedgehog sets out to do the same.
1. Chapter 1: New Toys

**DISCLAIMER: This is a work of fiction. Any character that is not a famous historical figure is fictional and any resemblance to any person, living or dead, is purely coincidental. Depictions of historical figures may not completely match their real-life counterparts.  
**

* * *

It was another bright day in the Great Forest. As usual, the air was clean, the water was good to drink, the wildlife was thriving and everything was peaceful. That is, until a loud buzzing noise came along. To the untrained ear, it would've sounded like a horde of angry wasps at first. However, that's not what was causing all the ruckus. Actually, it was Sonic the Hedgehog, riding a 1978 Yamaha YZ400 motocross bike.

Sonic the Hedgehog is a dude who needs little introduction. Ordinarily, being that this blue hedgehog had the power of super speed, he would have little use for a vehicle. However, Sonic was also a hedgehog with attitude, and this motorbike fit the bill. He zoomed into Knothole Village and slid to a stop next to Rotor's hut.

Rotor Walrus was part of the Knothole Freedom Fighters, a group dedicated to the liberation of Mobius from the iron reign of Dr. Robotnik. Rotor was a gray walrus with a yellow baseball cap who served as one of the team's mechanics. He was working on a new breakthrough device for the team when Sonic came in.

"Yo Rote, what's happenin'?" asked Sonic.

"Not much," replied Rotor, "just working on this new device."

"Hey, you got a minute? I got somethin' I wanna show ya!"

"Sure, just let me finish this assembly here…" Rotor took another few seconds to finish up another part of the machine he was working on. When he did, he went to see what Sonic wanted to show him, namely, the YZ400. When the two came back out, Sonic's friend Tails was already checking out the bike. Like Sonic, Tails needs little introduction. Born Miles Prower, this orange two-tailed fox really looked up to Sonic and had joined him for many adventures.

"Hey, that's pretty neat," said Rotor. "I didn't think you were into motorcycles!"

"Oh hey, Sonic!" said Tails. "This is a cool bike! Can I ride it?"

"Maybe later," replied Sonic. "Besides, it's not truly ready yet!"

"Sonic, what's going on here?" asked Sally Acorn, who was passing by. This brunette squirrel used to be Princess of Mobius until the monarchy had been ousted by Dr. Robotnik. Nowadays, she was one of the leaders of the Freedom Fighters. Sonic was the other.

Sally took a look at Sonic's new bike and said, with disdain: "Oh, so that's what was making that awful noise."

"Noise?" snapped Sonic. "Sal, you just don't get it! There's nothin' like the sweet song of a two-stroke engine!"

"Sonic, I've known you to do some stupid things before, but this is really pushing it!"

"Come on! This isn't stupid! It's awesome!"

"Awesome!? It's noisy, it's dirty, and it's just a pointless little toy! Besides, you're the fastest person I know. Why do you need a motorcycle?"

"Listen, Sal, I know I'm the Fastest Thing Alive, but let me tell ya, there's just somethin' special about a motorcycle! It's not a toy! It's got attitude!"

"Ugh…of course. I should have figured. Well…enjoy your bike, Sonic. In the meantime, I've got more serious things to do."

"OK, have fun, Sal!"

Sally left to do whatever it was that she had to do. Meanwhile, Sonic asked Rotor & Tails: "Now, would either of you guys be interested in upgrading this machine here?"

"I don't know; I'm pretty busy," replied Rotor.

"I'll do it!" replied Tails.

"All right! Good goin', little buddy!" exclaimed Sonic, who was about to go somewhere else when Rotor stopped him.

"Hey Sonic, before you go anywhere…" said Rotor.

"Yeah, Rote?" said Sonic.

"I need you to help me with this device I've been working on,"

"Whaddaya need? And what is that thing, anyways?"

"It's an anti-aircraft laser cannon. I'm building it to defend against any aircraft that attempt to snoop for Knothole. My only real problem is power. I need you to find me something that has enough power for the laser to fire a few shots!"

"And where am I goin' to find somethin' like that?"

"Try searching the junkyards near Eggopolis. If Dr. Robotnik's left any of his wrecked machines there, odds are that one of them's still got a power pack in it."

"Thanks for the tip, Rote! It's gonna get pretty tricky goin' over there, but 'tricky' is my middle name!"

"Better hurry, Sonic! No telling when Dr. Robotnik or somebody else is going to need a spare power pack!"

"Ain't no thang, my man! 'Hurry' is also my middle name! Juice time!" With that, Sonic headed for the urban blight of Eggopolis, formerly known as Emerald City.


	2. Chapter 2: Robotnik Strikes Back

Meanwhile, in another part of the Great Forest, Cream the Rabbit was picking flowers. Cream was a tan rabbit with long ears, but was otherwise short in stature. She was always accompanied by a blue Chao named Cheese. The two were having fun when they saw Dr. Robotnik sitting on a log, looking depressed.

Dr. Ivo "Eggman" Robotnik was a mad scientist who had usurped the throne of Mobius in a mad war that started a few decades ago. Like the heroes, Robotnik needs little introduction. This fat, bald mustachioed scientist had hatched many diabolical plots in the past, only to have Sonic or one of his friends thwart him. Robotnik always took his losses very hard and could never seem to cope with them.

As Robotnik was sitting on the log, loathing his record of failure, Cream walked up to him and said, "Hello there, Dr. Eggman! How are you?"

"Chao" said Cheese.

"TERRIBLE!" shouted Robotnik.

"What's wrong?" asked Cream.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK IS WRONG!?" yelled Robotnik, terrifying Cream somewhat. "I have HAD IT with Sonic foiling all of my blasted schemes! I wish he would get out of my way!"

"He's doesn't get in your way, Dr. Eggman; Sonic just tries to stop you from doing all the bad things you like to do."

"Chao!" agreed Cheese.

"EXACTLY!" replied Robotnik. "THAT'S why I HATE that Hedgehog!"

"Oh dear, it's so unfortunate that you feel that way," said Cream, who still had a look of concern on her face. However, her smile returned and she said to Robotnik: "You know, if you opened your heart to love, I think you'd find that the world will seem like a better place to you!"

"Chao Chao!" said Cheese.

"That is preposterous!" retorted Robotnik "I would never stoop to such a silly thing like that!"

"Well…would you at least consider trying it, Dr Eggman?" asked Cream.

"NO! Begone, you little pest!"

"Well…OK, but remember, it's never too late to try! See you again!"

"Chao!" said Cheese.

"…AND GOOD RIDDANCE!" added Robotnik as Cream & Cheese went elsewhere, probably frightened by the evil doctor's demeanor. As Cream & Cheese left, Robotnik returned to his usual state of loathing. However, his encounter with Cream would prove to be a very important one in the grand scheme of things.

"Try…" said Robotnik to himself, "…again…" Suddenly, the Doctor had a flash, a realization!

"I've got it!" Robotnik hurried back to his headquarters in Eggopolis, once known as Emerald City.

* * *

Back at Dr. Robotnik's foreboding evil villain HQ, he was hosting a conference with Snively, Scratch & Grounder. Snively, a short, bald man with a long, pointed nose; served as Dr. Robotnik's right-hand man. He also happened to be Robotnik's nephew. Scratch & Grounder were Robotnik's primary foot soldiers. Scratch was a robotic chicken with long legs, while Grounder was a short robot with drill bits for his nose & hands.

"Greetings, everyone," began Robotnik, "I have brought you all here today because of one thing: A certain annoying mammal. In the past, I have concocted numerous plans to take over the planet, and in the past, they have all failed because of that dastardly rodent, Sonic the Hedgehog! Whether he's traveled alone or with one of his thankless little friends, one thing is sure: With him around, I can never hope to succeed! In the past, I have often blamed you, my loyal minions, for being incompetent nincompoops, but I've come to another realization. Today, I realized that Sonic is not the only reason my plans have failed! Now, can anyone here guess the other reason for my failures?"

"Is it because of Sonic's friends?" asked Grounder.

"Close, but no!" replied Robotnik.

"Is it because you're an incompetent nincompoop who refuses to admit the truth?" asked Scratch.

"YOU FOOL!" yelled Robotnik. "If you give me another smart-aleck answer like that, then you're outta here!"

"Sorry, Your Evilness!" replied Scratch.

"I know!" exclaimed Snively, "Is it because you've been using new and untried plans all the time?"

"Exactly!" replied Robotnik. "The problem with many of my plans is that I have not tried them before, so I cannot be assured of their success! Therefore, I'm going to dig up one of my old schemes and try it again! This time, though, I shall put a little twist on it! Now, what will we be doing, exactly? Good question! You nincompoops already know about the Chaos Emeralds, but that's not what we're after! No, instead, we'll be attempting to steal the Sol Emeralds! In case you have short-term memory loss, the Sol Emeralds are an alternate dimension's equivalent of the Chaos Emeralds! So, how shall we be stealing the Sol Emeralds this time?

"Go to the alternate whatever and steal them by hand?" asked Grounder.

"No, not like that!" replied Robotnik.

"Use magic spells to make them appear?" asked Scratch.

"We don't even know magic!" replied Robotnik.

"Will you teleport them here with the use of a machine?" asked Snively.

"My, you're on a roll today, Snively!" exclaimed Robotnik. "That is absolutely correct! Fortunately, my workers have completed just the right device for this task! I call it the Inter-Dimensional Molecular Relocation Device! Once we steal the Sol Emeralds with this gadget, then I will be unstoppable! Not even that thankless little Hedgehog will be able to stop me! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

* * *

Speaking of the Hedgehog, Sonic was speeding through the Great Forest when he ran into someone…or, when someone ran into him, depending on your point of view. The "someone" in question was Shadow the Hedgehog, who was nearly identical to Sonic except for coloration: black with red stripes on his head & a tuft of white hair on his chest, just below the neck. Naturally, this resemblance lent itself to a serious rivalry between the two hedgehogs.

Both Sonic & Shadow were thrown to the ground by the collision, but they recovered quickly.

"Hey, be careful, Shadow!" exclaimed Sonic.

"Me?" replied Shadow. "I was minding my own business. It was you who should have been careful, faker!"

"Oh, really? Can ya prove it? Huh? Can ya!?"

"I am the Ultimate Life Form! I need no proof!"

"Whatever, man! I don't have time for this! Smell ya later, Shadow!" Sonic then zoomed off to Eggopolis.

"Get back here! I'm not finished with you yet!" Shadow skated after Sonic. Shadow pursued Sonic to the city limits of Eggopolis, but when he got to one of the junkyards near the edge of the city, he lost Sonic. After 15 minutes of searching, he gave up and skated back to the Great Forest.

With Shadow gone, Sonic emerged from the rotted hulk of a Chrysler New Yorker. "Man, that was too close!" said Sonic to himself. "Time to snag a few batteries!" As Rotor had suggested, he searched the junkyard for any remains of Dr. Robotnik's previous contraptions. On those occasions when the battery packs hadn't been removed, Sonic used a portable battery checker to see if they had any charge left.

Little did he know, though, that Robotnik had another evil plan set in motion…

* * *

Meanwhile, Robotnik & his heavies were preparing to activate the Inter-Dimensional Molecular Relocation Device, a large device with bolts of electricity emanating from it, blinkenlights and a chamber for an object to be teleported into.

"Scratch & Grounder, prime the device!" ordered Robotnik.

"Yes sir!" replied the two, who pressed a bunch of buttons and threw a few switches to prime the IDMRD.

"Good!" said Robotnik. "Snively, set the proper coordinates for the Sol Emeralds!"

"Setting coordinates, sir!" replied Snively.

Once the coordinates were set, Robotnik said, "And now, witness the success of my newest endeavor! HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH!"

* * *

At the junkyard, Sonic managed to snag some good battery packs and put them in his shoulder pack. He also grabbed some motorcycle parts and scrap metal for Tails should he need it.

"Too easy! Time to juice back home!" he said to himself. With his mission complete, he ran for home as fast as he could. However, when he got to the edge of Great Forest, something unexpected happened: Sonic was teleported to an unknown location, leaving only his pack behind.


	3. Chapter 3: A World Without Sonic

True to Dr. Robotnik's plan, he did indeed teleport the Sol Emeralds to this dimension. Well…two, anyways. The IDMRD broke down for some reason.

"WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS!?" shouted Robotnik. "I had all of this planned so perfectly!"

"It's not our fault!" said Grounder.

"Yeah, we primed the machine correctly!" said Scratch.

"I even had a maintenance crew check it earlier!" said Snively. "Everything was in perfect working order!"

"I don't care!" replied Robotnik. "Get this machine repaired soon or I'll have you all thrown off the nearest cliff!" Changing his tone, he said, "In the meantime, let us enjoy what few emeralds we DID get! HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!"

* * *

Speaking of Emeralds, Knuckles & Rouge were fighting over one in another part of the Great Forest. Knuckles was a red echidna who usually served as the guardian of the Master Emerald on his hometown of Angel Island, but also found himself responding to other events. Rouge was a white vampire bat with a black bodysuit, pink heart-shaped breastplate, white gauntlets and white steel-soled boots. She worked as a federal agent, but also hunted treasure as a side job.

"No fair, Knuckles!" exclaimed Rouge. "I found that emerald first! Give it back to me!"

"That doesn't belong to you!" retorted Knuckles. "Besides, you have no use for the Chaos Emeralds…OOOFF!" Rouge tackled Knuckles to the ground.

"I don't care!No one steals an emerald from a lady! " Rouge struggled to grab the Chaos Emerald from Knuckles.

"Rouge, let go! We've been through this before!"

"Me, let go? Oh, we'll see who's letting go!" Rouge then began to tickle Knuckles.

"Oh no! Please…stop!" begged Knuckles, who couldn't help but laugh as he was being tickled. This caused him to drop the Chaos Emerald, allowing Rouge to take the Emerald back.

When Knuckles came off it, he chastised Rouge: "Oh, and you complained about me not being fair!"

"What can I say?" said Rouge. "With enough unfairness, everything becomes fair again, honey!"

"Aw, shut up!" Knuckles attempted to tackle Rouge and take the Emerald back. He had just managed to grab on to her when she started flying away.

"Hang on!" Rouge flew around wildly in an attempt to get rid of Knuckles, but he hung on tight. The two were interrupted when a mysterious being teleported nearby.

"Pardon me, but I wish to speak with you!" said the mysterious being, a bright purple cat with vivid amber eyes and a red gem on her forehead. She wore a purple robe and rose-colored high-heel shoes with white straps.

Rouge stopped flying around and descended when she saw this mysterious being. Knuckles let go of Rouge as she neared the ground.

"Hey Blaze, long time no see!" said Knuckles.

"Hello, Knuckles" said Blaze.

"Wait…who's she?" asked Rouge, confused by Blaze's appearance.

"Oh…I forgot…neither of you have met!" said Knuckles. "Rouge, this is Blaze the Cat. Blaze, this is my…friend, Rouge."

Rouge said "hi" to Blaze, but Blaze didn't really return the greeting because she was wary of Rouge.

"So…why are you here, Blaze?" asked Knuckles.

"I came here because I detected an attempt to steal the Sol Emeralds!" replied Blaze. "Two of the Emeralds are absent!"

"Hey, when it comes to emeralds, you can count on me!" boasted Rouge.

"No! I must do this on my own!" said Blaze.

"Hmmm…sounds like Dr. Robotnik's up to no good again!" said Knuckles. "Try going to Eggopolis; that's where Robotnik's HQ is!"

"Very well, I shall go there!" replied Blaze.

"In the meantime, I gotta warn Sonic!" said Knuckles, who sped off in the direction of Knothole. He returned a second later, though, and swiped the Chaos Emerald from Rouge.

"HEY! That's enough!" exclaimed Rouge, who attempted to chase after Knuckles.

* * *

In Knothole, things were pretty normal. Rotor was pretty much finished with the anti-aircraft laser cannon, needing only a power source to complete it. Tails was working on Sonic's Yamaha. Sally, meanwhile was worried about where Sonic was.

"Bunnie, have you seen Sonic here?" asked Sally.

"Naw, I haven't seen him since he got back," replied Bunnie Rabbot, a gold-furred rabbit with a robotic left arm & robotic legs.

"OK, let me know if you see him," Sally went to Antoine's hut. Antoine Depardieu (or D'Coolette, as some records have stated) was a tan coyote who once served as a palace guard prior to the abdication of the Royal Family.

"Antoine? Where are you?" asked Sally.

"M-my p-p-princess? I-is that you?" replied Antoine, who was hiding under his bed. Sally went over to the bed and looked underneath.

"Antoine, you haven't seen Sonic…have you?"

"Of c-course I 'ave not seeing him! E-ee 'as probably being eaten by killer bees! Please, do not let them to get me, my princess!"

"Antoine, there are no killer bees! That was just Sonic's motorcycle making all the noise! It's safe to come out now!"

"Are you s-s-sure?"

"Yes, Antoine!" Sally was slightly annoyed. Antoine came out slowly from his hiding place.

"Phew, it is good to being alive!" said Antoine.

"Well…see you later!" said Sally. "Please let me know if you see Sonic!"

"Of course, my princess!"

Meanwhile, Sally went to the workshop where Tails & Rotor were working.

"Guys, have either of you two seen Sonic?" asked Sally.

"I sent him to get some power packs for the laser cannon," replied Rotor. "He should have been back here by now!"

"Hmmm…that is a bit suspicious," remarked Sally. "He should be back here before long, though. I'll let you know if I see anything!"

"OK then," said Rotor.

"Aunt Sally, I'm worried about Sonic!" said Tails.

"It's OK," replied Sally. "Sonic will be back here soon, OK, Tails?"

"I guess you're right. Sonic's awesome! He always gets back!"

Sally was a bit amused by Tails' reply. "Well, see you later, Tails!"

"See ya, Aunt Sally!" Tails got back to work. Sally wasn't actually Tails' aunt; that was just a term of affection.

Suddenly, Knuckles came running into Knothole.

"Princess Sally, where's Sonic!?" asked Knuckles.

"He's not here, Knuckles," replied Sally. "He went to get some parts for us and he hasn't returned."

"Damn! He'd better show up soon! I've got to warn him about Robotnik!"

"Oh no! What's Robotnik up to now!?"

Before Knuckles could answer, an unknown hedgehog with silver fur teleported into Knothole. Fittingly enough, this guy was named Silver the Hedgehog. Like Shadow, he had a tuft of white hair on his chest, but his quills were styled differently from Sonic's & Shadow's. This was not Silver's first appearance on the planet Aigess, for he had met the Blue Blur once before, but nobody really talks about that time.

"Excuse me, but can I talk to you for a moment?" asked Silver.

"Sure," replied Sally. "What is it, Silver?"

"Wait…you two actually know each other?" said Knuckles.

"It's a long story," replied Sally, who went back to talking with Silver. "Anyways, what brought you here?"

"I wanted to show you something," replied Silver. "It's about the future."

"We'd love to, but we'd rather not go without Sonic."

"Well, come along anyways! This is about him!"

"Well, if it's that important…" Sally turned towards the hut where Tails & Rotor were working and called out: "Tails! Rotor! Come over here!" Naturally, the two stopped what they were doing and came out to see what Sally wanted.

"What do you want, Aunt Sally?" asked Tails. "Oh, hi Silver! What's up?"

"Come with me, everyone!" said Silver, who transported everybody to the future.

* * *

To be precise, Silver lived 200 years in the future, give or take a few sectons. The city they were in was unmistakably Emerald City/Eggopolis, but the place had changed. Most noticeably, the city's architecture had changed to what people of the latter half of the 20th century thought the world would look like after the year 2000. The angular geometric shapes present in the designs gave the city a sort of 1970's flavor, too. More importantly, the city was a pristine white, with no crime, no pollution, no poverty, no waste, in short: none of the problems that were present in urban areas of the 20th & 21st centuries. Everyone marveled at the scene before them, except Silver.

"Whoa…this is cool!" exclaimed Tails.

"Oh my…" said Sally.

"Wow!" said Knuckles.

"Jumpin' junipers!" exclaimed Bunnie.

"Magnifique!" remarked Antoine.

"This is something else!" said Rotor.

Just then, a robotic food cart hovered over to the group's location, with lettering that promised any kind of food that one could think of. Tails went over to get some food.

"No, stop!" said Silver.

"Aw…why not?" asked Tails.

"Oui, what is so wrong with this place?" asked Antoine.

"Guys, this is only one small portion of the future!" said Silver. "It's not a real picture of the future as a whole!"

"Hmmm…now that you mention it, something does feel a little odd…" said Sally, as if the presence of roboticized Mobians here had failed to clue her in.

"I must show you the real future!" said Silver, who teleported them to a city beyond the borders of Emerald City/Eggopolis. In a stark contrast to the squeaky clean metropolis they'd witnessed earlier, this city was very run down. The roads were potholed, the infrastructure was decaying, the air quality was poor, garbage was piling up, but those weren't all the problems. Crime was also rampant here, including: Murder, robbery, assault, drug dealing, burglary, larceny, drive-by shootings, mugging, vandalism, arson, jaywalking and all kinds of other mean, nasty crimes. In fact, not long after the group got here, they heard a few gunshots and a woman screaming.

"Guys, I-I am n-not liking this place already!" said Antoine.

"This is terrible!" exclaimed Sally. "Is this what will happen without Sonic?"

"This isn't the only one, either," said Silver. "Almost all of the…GET DOWN!" Everyone dropped to the ground as a beat up El Camino came close. The car's occupants opened fire with automatic weapons, but they missed and simply sped away afterwards. Everyone got up except Antoine, who was still on the ground, shaking with fear.

"M-m-m-m-m-m-mon dieu!" stuttered Antoine. "P-p-p-p-p-please…d-d-d-don't k-k-k-kill m-m-m-me!"

"It's all right, sugar!" said Bunnie. "Y'all can get up now!"

Antoine opened his eyes and slowly looked around to be sure. Once he was sure, he quickly bolted upright and hugged Bunnie as tightly as he could. "Oooh…merci! Merci! Please…do not ever let me going again!"

"Aw, Ant!" said Bunnie. "We would never let y'alls go!" She then thought to herself: "Ant, it's nice that y'all are thinkin' of me, but could ya please let go? Y'all are crushin' me like a python!"

"Now, as I was saying," began Silver, "this isn't just one city. Almost all cities are like this. There's one more thing I want to show you, too…" Shadow teleported the crew to the countryside, which was just about as bad as the cities. Out here, gangs of tanks engaged each other in combat. The landscape itself was horribly polluted, with barely any vegetation or wildlife. If that wasn't enough, there were land mines and automatically-controlled gun turrets scattered randomly. Biker gangs also roamed the landscape, just as they did in the cities.

"This is absolutely horrible!" exclaimed Sally. "Is this all Robotnik's doing?"

"Not quite. When Dr. Eggman was an old man, somebody murdered him. Afterwards, his nephew Snively succeeded him as ruler of Mobius."

"Hmmm…this smells pretty rotten," said Knuckles. "I bet I know what Robotnik did, too."

"What is it?" asked Sally & Silver.

"Blaze the Cat came to me while I was in the Great Forest. She mentioned something about an attempt to steal the Sol Emeralds. I bet that's why Sonic went missing!"

"The…Sol Emeralds?" queried Sally.

"They're like Chaos Emeralds, but they're from another dimension." Silver's ears perked up at the "other dimension" part.

"Eggman's been messing around with other dimensions!?" said Silver. "Oh no, we've got to stop him! He doesn't know what he's doing!" Silver then returned everyone to the present day, away from the potential crapsack world that awaited them should the Blue Blur not be located.

"OK, here's what we'll do," began Sally, "Knuckles, go to Eggopolis with Silver. Rotor & Antoine, check the western part of the forest. Bunnie & I will check the eastern part. Tails, stay behind and guard Knothole! Any questions?"

Nobody had any questions, so everyone moved out and got to work.


	4. Chapter 4: Back to the Hedgehog

Sonic, meanwhile, found himself in a strange place. This was most likely his home planet of Aigess, but not as he knew it. For one thing, the vegetation was somewhat barren. No, Sonic hadn't ended up in the bleak future that his comrades had witnessed. In fact, the reason the vegetation was thinner was because the place was just starting to warm up after a cold spell.

"Man, where is this place?" said Sonic to himself. "Tails! Sally! Where are you!?" When he got no response, he said to himself, "Time to turn and burn!" and proceeded to speed through this brave new world. However, he stopped when he saw some unusual looking animals. At this point, he realized it was futile to search for his friends, because it was here that he realized that he was in the so-called "Caveman" Era…or rather, "Cavehog" Era.

Speaking of cavehogs, Sonic happened to meet one soon enough. This cavehog was about the same height as True Blue, but there were a few differences: First of all, the cavehog's quills were not as well groomed as Sonic's. Second of all, the cavehog had longer fangs than Sonic's & a poor temper.

"YIKES! Gotta jet, Brett!" exclaimed Sonic as the cavehog charged at him. Thankfully for Sonic, the cavehog couldn't run as fast as him. Just when Sonic was outrunning his prehistoric counterpart, he got teleported again…

* * *

Meanwhile, in the present day, Sonic's friends were searching for him. In the eastern part of the forest, Sally was using NICOLE, her tan hand-held computer, to look for Sonic. However, NICOLE couldn't locate Sonic's life force anywhere.

"Come on, where is he!?" said Sally.

"We'll find him, Sally girl!" said Bunnie. "Y'all remember what Tails said: Sonic always gets back!"

"Maybe so," replied Sally, "but I'm still worried. He should still be in Mobius!"

"Are y'all sure that that little gizmo of yours is workin' OK?" asked Bunnie.

"Trust me, Bunnie, I had NICOLE calibrated & serviced this morning," replied Sally. "NICOLE, when was the last time you were calibrated?"

"Previous date of calibration: Today at 9:18 AM" replied NICOLE.

"Well, I reckon we done got our work cut out for us!" remarked Bunnie.

At the other end of the forest, Antoine & Rotor were having no luck either.

"This is Gold Leader to Green Leader," said Rotor on his wrist communicator, "have you found Old Blue? Over."

"Negative, Gold Leader," replied Sally. "We'll keep looking, though. Over and out."

"Roger. Gold Leader out."

Antoine & Rotor continued their search. A few moments later, they encountered Rouge.

"Hello, boys," she said, "What are you looking for?"

"AAAAAAAAHHHH! VAMPIRE!" screamed Antoine, who hid behind Rotor.

"Gee, what's his problem?" said Rouge, who thought Antoine was being weird.

"Oh, don't mind him," replied Rotor, who turned to Antoine and said, "It's all right, Antoine, she's not a vampire! Besides, vampires don't even come out during the daytime!"

"A-are you sure?" asked Antoine.

"Yes," said Rotor. "Trust me, we've run into her before! Remember Stalag 13? If she's helped us before, then she must be on our side…right?"

"Oh really? What a wonderful philosophy!" remarked Rouge. "We could go very far!"

"What was your name, again?" asked Rotor.

"My name is Rouge the Bat, but you can call me Rouge!"

"Mine's Rotor."

Antoine, having worked up the courage to talk to Rouge, said: "To answering your early question, mademoiselle, we are cooking for Sonic!"

"That's 'looking'," said Rotor.

"I was knowing that!" snapped Antoine.

"Sonic, you say?" said Rouge. "Sorry boys, but I haven't seen Big Blue lately."

Suddenly, Shadow showed up! "OH NOOOO!" screamed Antoine, who hid behind Rotor. "Do not kill me, Shadow!"

"Calm down, pipsqueak," said Shadow. "I won't hurt you; I'm not with the Gestapo anymore." Antoine slowly came out from hiding. Everyone said "hi" to him, and he returned the greetings coldly.

"Listen…Shadow…" began Rotor, "…you didn't happen to see Sonic, did you?"

"The last time I saw him, he was near Eggopolis," replied Shadow. "Not that I care, anyways. Goodbye!" Shadow left and kept on skating around.

"Now, if you shall be excusing us, mademoiselle," said Antoine, "we are to be going now! Au revoir!"

"Antoine's right," said Rotor. "In the meantime, if you see Sonic, please tell us! See you later, Rouge!"

"Sure! Good luck, boys!" said Rouge, who flew off to somewhere else. However, she came back a couple of seconds later. "Oh, and by the way…"

"Yes?" said Antoine & Rotor.

"You boys don't happen to have any gems with you, do you?" asked Rouge.

Both the guys said "no".

"Well, if you see any, could you do me a favor and bring back any for me if you find them?" asked Rouge

"Yeah…sure!" said Rotor, who was actually pretty reluctant to do so.

"Thank you! I will reward you handsomely!" With that, everyone parted ways. Antoine & Rotor moved closer to Eggopolis, hoping that Sonic would show up there.

* * *

Speaking of Eggopolis, Blaze the Cat was already there. She was being very careful to avoid the random patrols in the city. With a few cartwheels, flips and jumps, she made it to Robotnik's HQ without being spotted. Once she got in, there would be no turning back…


	5. Chapter 5: Of Men and Justice

Sonic materialized in what appeared to be a more civilized era than the "Cavehog" Era. However, this was clearly not his time nor his place. Many of the buildings here were rectangular buildings with large stone pillars and sloped roofs. The people walking the streets were all men, all wearing tunics. Although Sonic had not realized it at first, he was in Ancient Greece, more specifically, Athens. Being unfamiliar with such an urban area, Sonic decided to take it slowly at first rather than just speeding around everywhere. However, that would soon change when some of the people of Athens spotted him.

At first, they just stopped and gave him strange looks, because really, were blue hedgehogs a common sight in Ancient Greece? Some of these people even backed away, fearing that Sonic could be dangerous. Finally, one of them called out for help from the local law enforcement.

"Uh oh! Looks like I'm gonna have to juice again!" said Sonic to himself. Everyone was astonished when they saw the little blue rodent run away at super speed. They were even more astonished when he did it with such surgical precision.

After just a few seconds of running, Sonic ducked through a gate and into the Agora of Athens, the central gathering place in Athens. Inside, he pulled out a period-correct outfit from the bag of disguises he always carried around. Once he was suitably outfitted, he proceeded to act normally. Here, he saw a bunch of men engaged in various activities. In order to better evade the authorities, he decided to engage in conversation with two men who were already conversing.

"…But if we wanted further to know not only which are men and which are horses, but which men or horses have powers of running, would the many still be able to inform us?" asked the first man, who had a curly beard and short, curly hair, as typical of Greek men. Curiously, he spoke English, as if the essence of the Babelfish permeated the very air that Sonic was breathing.

"Certainly not," replied the second man, who had a shorter beard and appeared to be younger than the first man.

"Hey, 'scuse me, but am I interruptin' anything important or can I join in?" asked Sonic.

"Why, I would be honored for you to join us," replied the first man.

"Pardon me, but you appear to be unusually short in stature," said the second man. "Are you not still a child?"

"Believe me, I'm older than I look, cat!" said Sonic.

"What a quaint manner of speech!" remarked the first man. "What is your name?"

"My name?" replied Sonic. "It's…uh…Sonikos the Hedgehog!"

"An honor to meet you," said the first man. "My name is Socrates."

"And I am Alcibiades," said the second man.

"So, what it is, Socrates?" asked Sonic. "Lay it on me, my man!"

"Now tell me, Sonikos," said Socrates, "what would you say the definition of justice is?"

"That's easy! Justice is Robotnik getting his butt kicked!"

"And would there also be justice to others if this 'Robotnik' had 'his butt kicked', as you say?"

"Heck yeah!"

"But how can you know that there would be justice in sentencing Robotnik thusly?"

"Believe me, I've seen what he did!"

"Pardon me," said Alcibiades, "but what is it that Robotnik has done to be deserving of any punishment?"

Sonic told Alcibiades the story of how Robotnik took over Mobius and roboticized most of its citizens, including his Uncle Chuck. Sonic was saddened a little when he mentioned his uncle.

"What is this 'roboticizing' that you speak of?" asked Alcibiades. Sonic then had to give him a few details on what the process entailed plus a few details on what a robot was. However, since Sonic was not an especially technical fellow, he likely got a few details wrong.

"Interesting" said Alcibiades.

"But now then," said Socrates, "is this robotization not part of a greater good?"

"No way!" exclaimed Sonic.

"But are there not those who support this Robotnik and consider him to be acting for the greater good?" asked Socrates.

"Listen, man, any ruler who turns people into…" Sonic was interrupted by someone tapping him on the shoulder. It was one of the law enforcement officers that was chasing him earlier, and he was accompanied by more of his cohorts!

"Uh-oh! Gotta breeze, Socrates!" exclaimed Sonic, who zoomed off, avoiding the guards and getting teleported to another era…

* * *

Back in the present, nobody was having any luck finding Sonic. The sun was starting to set, too. However, Cream & Cheese ran into Sally & Bunnie during the search.

"Hello there, Miss Sally and Miss Bunnie!" said Cream.

"Chao!" said Cheese.

"It's nice to see you, Cream!" said Sally.

"Howdy!" said Bunnie.

"What'cha doing?" asked Cream.

"We're looking for Sonic," replied Sally.

"Have y'all seen the Sugar-hog around?" asked Bunnie.

"No, not lately," replied Cream. "However, I found this…" Cream showed them a brown leather bag that had some battery packs and other assorted components inside.

"That's Sonic's bag!" exclaimed Sally. "Could you please give it to us?"

"Why, sure!" Cream handed the bag over to Sally.

"Thank you very much, Cream!"

"You're welcome, Miss Sally!"

"Chao!" said Cheese.

"We have to be going now," said Sally. "If you see Sonic, please…let us know right away!"

"Yes, Miss Sally!" replied Cream.

"Chao!" said Cheese.

"Bye, Cream!" said Bunnie. "See y'all later!"

"Good luck to you both!" said Cream. "Bye!"

"Chao!" said Cheese. The two groups parted ways. A few moments later, Sally & Bunnie ran into Sonic!

"Sonic, where were you?" asked Sally. "We were worried about you!"

"It's good to see ya back, hon!" said Bunnie.

Actually, unbeknownst to the two, this wasn't Sonic. Sure, he looked almost like Sonic, and he was a blue hedgehog, and he did wear red sneakers, but that's where the similarities ended. First of all, this hedgehog had yellow sclera and a red chin. Second of all, his left arm was yellow and his left glove was red. For the right arm, the opposite was true: the arm itself was red while the glove was yellow. Third, the fur on his chest was yellow, as was one of the spikes on his back. Finally, he wore yellow socks.

"你好，我是Harry Potter Obama the Hedgehog！" said the unknown hedgehog.

"Sonic, enough nonsense!" said Sally. "We have to get back home now!"

She sent a message over her walkie-talkie: "Green Leader to all units, I've located Old Blue! Everyone get back to base! Green Leader out!"

"Roger that! Gold Team heading back to base!" replied Rotor. "Gold Leader out!"

"Got it! Red Leader out!" said Knuckles.

* * *

Knuckles & Silver had made it into Eggopolis and were in a dark alley, but Knuckles had decided to split. However, he turned around when Silver called out to him: "WAIT! Where are you going!?"

"Where do you think I'm going!?" replied Knuckles. "They found Sonic! Our job's done here!"

"But what about Blaze?" asked Silver. "She could be in danger right now!"

"Blaze can handle this by herself! Shouldn't be long before she gets those emeralds back!"

"It's no use! We can't leave her! We have to help her out!"

"No, Silver, we're going back home!"

"Knuckles, we can't just leave her to Dr. Eggman's clutches!"

"Look, I'm the team leader! Whatever I say is an order! Now come on! Let's go!"

"But Knuckles, what if Dr. Eggman catches her?"

"FINE! If you want to help Blaze so bad, then you can go get her by yourself! I'm goin' back home!" Knuckles started running, but he was frozen before he got to the end of the alley. Silver was using his telekinetic power to immobilize Knuckles.

"TAKE THIS!" exclaimed Silver, who pulled Knuckles back using his telekinesis. Knuckles ended up hitting a dumpster and was knocked cold, contrary to Silver's intention. He recovered quickly, though, and went towards Silver.

"That's it!" said Knuckles, who readied his fists. "I'm gonna make you eat a sandwich you'll…AAH! Damn it!" Silver immobilized him again.

"If I let you go, will you promise to come with me and help out Blaze?"

"YEAH! Now let me go, man!"

"Not yet. Do you also promise not to beat my face in if I let you go?

"Okay, okay, OKAY!" Silver let Knuckles free. "Gah, you're a difficult son of a gun!"

"You know, I could have frozen you until you promised to be nice to me," said Silver.

"*Sigh*…I wonder why Princess Acorn bothered putting us together."

"Let's just go!" Silver & Knuckles went to Robotnik's HQ.

* * *

Meanwhile, inside Robotnik's HQ, things appeared to be going well for Blaze. She had dodged all of the SWATbot patrols that she encountered and had toasted some of the electronic door locks on her way to the Sol Emeralds. Finally, she made it to the room where the stolen Sol Emeralds were kept, just as Knuckles had told her. Being that she could sense their energy, it was no trouble to actually locate them. She approached the case where the Emeralds were kept.

"Greetings, Princess!" said a voice from behind Blaze. "We've been expecting you! Hehehehehehahahahahaha!"

Blaze turned around and saw Dr. Robotnik, Scratch & Grounder waiting for her, along with a squad of SWATbots…

* * *

**NOTES/TRIVIA:**

**-Alcibiades was an Athenian statesman who was featured in some of the Socratic dialogues.  
**


	6. Chapter 6: The Two Kings

Sonic found himself teleported to a wide open countryside. To him, it looked just like home. The grass was lusher than the "Cavehog" Era. However, there didn't appear to be so many trees here. Granted, there were some open meadows in the Great Forest and outlying areas, so it was quite possible that the Blue Blur was now back home.

"Ah, home sweet home!" said Sonic to himself. "Nothin' like the smell of that Great Forest air! I am up, over and gone!" With that, Sonic ran like the wind, hoping to get back to Knothole. However, after running for some time, Sonic never found the Great Forest.

"Man, what is this place?" wondered Sonic. "The Great Forest never had this much open space! Guess I gotta keep turnin' and burnin'!" Sonic kept running, but all he found was a small village consisting of simple hovels, similar to what he'd seen in Knothole, but cruder. The village was populated entirely by humans, all wearing simple overcoats, boots and trousers. A number of them were working in the fields, reaping, planting, plowing, etc… Though the scene was quite unfamiliar to Sonic, it wouldn't have been entirely out of place in Mobius. After all, though humanoid animals like Sonic were the majority in Mobius, some humans did indeed live there, and there were villages where people had fields of crops. Not all free peoples could attain the finest clothing, so there was still a chance that this was indeed Mobius.

Sonic walked up to a woman and asked: "'Scuse me, but do you know where Knothole is?"

The woman was spooked when she saw the blue Hedgehog, but Sonic said, "Hey, cool it, I ain't dangerous! I just wanna find Knothole!"

"What is a 'Knothole'?" replied the woman. Once again, the essence of the Babelfish had worked its magic, as she spoke English.

"You know, Knothole Village?" said Sonic.

"I know of no such village,"

"Really?" Sonic seemed confused by her replies. "Well…OK. See ya!" Sonic continued in his search for Knothole. As the forest thickened, he found a clearing with a village that looked like Knothole, except for two things: 1. There were more humans living here than he remembered, and 2. There were more crop fields than he remembered. Granted, Knothole did have some gardens, but not really this many.

Confused, Sonic walked up to a man and asked: "Yo, have you seen Tails around?"

"The creature speaks?" inquired the man.

"Right on!" said Sonic. "Now, where's Tails?

"Tails?"

"You haven't? Well, what about Sally?"

"Sorry, I do not know that person."

"Come on, do you know Knuckles, Bunnie or any of those cats!?"

"I do not even know who you're talking about!"

"Well, this is Knothole Village, isn't it?"

"Knothole? You daft little man, this is not the village of Knothole! This is the village of Pothole!"

"Um…OK…sorry to bother you, my man. Gotta zap, Hap!" Sonic continued further into the forest. Deep within the woods, he found a group of men wearing robes and worshipping a crude shrine. For some reason, they turned to him and bowed.

"Behold, our prayers have been answered!" said one of the men. "The great Herison hath been summoned!"

"Huh?" said Sonic.

"O Herison, thank thou for visiting us in our time of need!" said another.

"Wait…what?" said Sonic, confused by what these men were talking about.

"Thou art our savior, Herison!" said another man. "We bow before thee!"

"What's all this about?" asked Sonic.

"Thou art confused? Why, thou art none other than Herison the Swift, one of the true gods of the people!" replied the first man.

"No…you're makin' a mistake, pal…" said Sonic, who was a bit nervous about the whole thing.

"But there can be no mistake!" said a fourth man. "It is exactly as was foretold! Our sacred texts have told us that if we were to perform the Ritual of the Shrubbery on the ninety-and-first day of the Second Seed, then the great Herison the Swift would appear before us!"

"But I'm not 'Herison'!" insisted Sonic. "I'm Sonic…Sonic the Hedgehog!"

"Ah yes, we were told that thou might be referring to thyself with a different name!" said the third man.

"Look, Sonic is my real name!" said Sonic.

"He hath taken on a different identity altogether!" exclaimed the first man. "Herison was said to be cautious about keeping his true self hidden!"

"But I'm not…" Sonic trailed off and paused for a couple of seconds. "Hmmm…if these cats think I'm some sort of savior, then I must be!" he thought to himself. After the pause, he said to the first man, "OK, so what's shakin', my man?"

"We have received information about our new king, William," said the first man. "From what we have told, he hath formed close relations with the reigning church! They infecteth the land with their false god! They shalt be destroyed!"

"A religious crusade?" said Sonic. "Sorry, that ain't my bag! I'm outta here!"

"Wait, do not leave us!" begged the second man.

"We beseech thee!" said the fourth man. "Render thy assistance unto us!"

"I tell you what," replied Sonic, "if Robotnik's involved, I'm gravy!"

"Who is 'Robotnik'?" asked the first man. Just like Ancient Greece, Sonic explained everything.

At the end of Sonic's spiel, the first man said: "We do not know if the king hath allied himself with this 'Robotnik', but we feel that there be a good chance of this being so!"

"Well, if that's the case, then I am up, over and gone!" exclaimed Sonic, who ran off in search of the king's castle.

* * *

Speaking of the king, this "William" was really William the Conqueror, Duke of Normandy. Therefore, Sonic wasn't in Mobius at all; he was really in England during the High Middle Ages. Additionally, William had more than one castle, so Sonic had to do a bit of searching to find the king, who was at Hastings Castle. Getting in was another matter.

"Halt! Who goes there?" asked one of the guards at the gate.

"My name is…uh…Sonny, and I wanna see the king!" replied Sonic.

"I am sorry, but nobody is permitted to see the king without special reason!"

"Look, I just wanna see him! It's real important!"

"Turn away, young man, or we shall attack!"

"Okay, mellow out! I'm goin'!" Sonic fell back from the castle and ducked behind a tree.

"I know just what to do here!" said Sonic to himself as he put on a suit of chain-mail armor from his bag of disguises. With this, plus a sword, he went back to Hastings Castle.

"Halt! Who goes there?" asked a guard.

"I'm Sonic, Sonic the Swift, one of the bravest knights ever!" replied Sonic.

"Really? If thou art a knight, then recount your tales to me!"

Sonic was a bit stumped here. After a bit of thinking he said: "I defeated the evil King Julian the Metal at the Battle of Mobius! I ran like the wind and cut down his goons faster than lightning!"

"How impressive!" remarked the guard. "Very well, I shall permit thee to enter! Welcome to Castle Hastings!" The guard lowered the drawbridge, and Sonic was let inside the castle. Though modern historians cannot say exactly what it looked like, this fort may have had some tapestries or other ornamentation within.

Regardless, Sonic was led to the throne of William the Conqueror, victor at the Battle of Hastings. This guy was a well-built man, clean-shaven, too.

"Who is this young man that thou bringest before me?" asked William.

"Your Majesty, this is Sir Sonic the Swift, who hath vanquished the evil King Julian the Metal at the Battle of Mobius!" replied one of the guards.

"And you must be King William!" said Sonic.

"That is correct," replied William. "How didst you know?"

"Believe me, I know a lotta things!" said Sonic, who cast aside his helmet and pointed his sword at William. "Game's up, turkey!"

"What sort of madness is this!?"

"I know you're probably workin' for Robuttnik! Anybody who's a friend of that egghead is an enemy of mine!"

"Robotnik? I know not of what you speak! Lower your sword, or you shalt be in grave trouble!"

"Come on, don't jive me! Tell me what you know about him!"

"Guards, SEIZE HIM!" However, Sonic knocked the two guards out. He attempted to fight some more guards that came in, but he soon found himself outnumbered.

"Uh-oh, so much for this!" said Sonic. "Time to cast & blast!" Sonic used a spin dash to create an opening in the wall, and then continued running until he was teleported yet again…

* * *

In Dr. Robotnik's HQ, Blaze found herself encased in a plexiglass tube. Dr. Robotnik, Snively and some SWATbots were present in this room.

"I know exactly why you've come here," began Robotnik, "and unfortunately for you, I will be getting my hands on those Sol Emeralds!"

"Not if I can help it!" exclaimed Blaze, who attempted to use a fire blast to escape. Unfortunately, the tube was largely fireproof.

"Give up, princess!" said Robotnik. "If you surrender, your death will be less painful for you!"

"I'll never give up!" said Blaze.

"Very well, you leave me with little choice. Snively, start the roboticizing process!"

"Yes sir!" said Snively. "I'm not getting paid enough for such menial work!" he grumbled to himself.

"What was that!?" questioned Robotnik.

"Oh…uh…I was hoping that this _machine_ would _work_!" replied Snively, who was startled that his uncle had actually heard him.

"Yes, I agree! But not to worry, roboticizing works on _everyone_! Eheheheheheheheh!"

Unbeknownst to the Doctor, Knuckles & Silver got inside his HQ. Knuckles led the way because he knew this place better than Silver.

"This is Green Leader to Red Leader," said Sally over the walkie-talkie, "What's taking you so long? Over!"

"Look, I can't explain what's happened, but something's come up!" replied Knuckles. "I'll be back as soon as possible! Red Leader out!"

"Be careful, then! Green Leader out!"

Just outside the Roboticizer Room, Knuckles' & Silver's only obstacle was Scratch & Grounder, who were both guarding the door.

"Let me take care of this one!" said Silver, who used his telekinetic power to levitate Grounder and move him away from the door.

"HEY? What's going on here!?" exclaimed Grounder. "HELP! Let me down from here!"

"Hold on, little guy! I'll get ya down!" said Scratch, who went chasing after the floating Grounder. Knuckles & Silver slipped past them.

Inside, things were going well for Robotnik. "Throw the switch, Snively!" he said.

"Yes sir!" said Snively.

"Not so fast, Egghead!" exclaimed Knuckles as he & Silver threw the door open.

"WHAT!?" exclaimed Robotnik. "SWATbots, attack!" He activated the alarm, and the game was on. Silver opened the door to Blaze's tube using his power. He also used his power to pick Snively up and throw him against a group of SWATbots, knocking them down. Snively survived, but got a bump on the head. Having escaped being roboticized, Blaze lit some more SWATbots on fire. More SWATbots entered the room, but Knuckles smashed them with his fists.

"Come on, let's get out of here!" shouted Knuckles. The trio rushed outside, dodging some more SWATbots.

"I am grateful for the rescue!" said Blaze.

"You're welcome!" replied Silver. Blaze started to break off from Knuckles & Silver.

"Blaze, where are you going!?" asked Silver.

"I must get the Sol Emeralds back!" said Blaze.

"But…"

"Come on, man!" said Knuckles. "Our mission is complete! Let's get out of here!"

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" asked Silver.

"We got Blaze out, didn't we? I'm sure she can take it from here!"

"But Knuckles…"

"Come on, let's go! No funny stuff this time, either!" Knuckles & Silver headed for the exit.

Blaze, meanwhile, was heading to the chamber where the Sol Emeralds were kept. Given all the SWATbots trying to impede her progress, she used some fancy footwork to get around, along with some fire-based attacks such as the Fire Tornado. Scratch & Grounder were unlucky enough to have gotten in her way and were burnt, though they survived.

"Hey, is it a little hot in here?" asked Scratch.

"I dunno, but I could go for some fried chicken right now!" replied Grounder.

"Ah, shut up, bolt-brain!" snapped Scratch.

When Blaze got to the chamber with the Sol Emeralds, she opened the case that contained them, but also noticed a machine in another part of the room: It was the IDMRD!

"I shall teach Dr. Robotnik a lesson about toying with the Sol Emeralds!" said Blaze to herself. Before teleporting back to her home dimension, Blaze used a blast of fire to destroy the IDMRD, which had actually been partially repaired by the time she got there.


	7. Chapter 7: Colorful Characters

Knuckles & Silver escaped Robotnik's HQ and made it to the Great Forest undetected.

"Thanks for the help, Silver," said Knuckles. "Now if you'll excuse me, I gotta make sure Sonic & the others are okay!"

"Very well," said Silver. "I too must be returning. Goodbye, Knuckles!"

"See ya later, Silver!" Silver returned to the future. "…and good riddance, too!" Knuckles said to himself. With Silver gone, Knuckles radioed Sally:

"Red Leader to Green Leader, I'm heading back home. How's our friend, over?"

"This is Green Leader," said Sally. "The Blue One's fine, but I think you should see what's going on here! Green Leader out!"

"Got it! Red Leader out!" Knuckles headed for Knothole, unaware that he was being watched by a familiar face. When he got there, he met with Sally.

"So, what's up with Sonic?" asked Knuckles.

"Well, Sonic's been a bit more…playful than usual" replied Sally. "Take a look!" Outside, Knuckles saw Antoine scratching himself.

"What's up with you?" asked Knuckles.

"I am itching very bad!" replied Antoine. "Sonic 'as dusting me with this itching power! Please to making it stop!"

"Ah, Sonic's probably just trying to be funny," said Knuckles. "Now, where is he?"

"我在这里，笨蛋！"said Harry Potter Obama. Knuckles turned around to see what he thought was Sonic.

"It's good to see ya, Sonic!" exclaimed Knuckles. "We thought we'd never find you…ACK!" Harry Potter Obama grabbed Knuckles' nose.

"你觉得你的鼻子！你的鼻子！"said Harry Potter Obama in a mocking tone of voice.

"Ha ha, very funny, Sonic."

"对不起，我不能让你走没有10000小大熊猫！"

"Sonic, I've got places to go!"

Harry Potter Obama then sang a song of mocking:

"我的针鼹有一个名字，  
它的转向节，  
我针鼹有一个姓，  
它的头！"

"Sonic, that's enough!" warned Sally, who pulled him away from Knuckles. Harry Potter Obama gave her a cold glare.

"Thanks, Princess," said Knuckles. "Now if you'll excuse me, I've got an emerald to protect. But first…do you have any grape juice? All this traveling makes me thirsty!"

"Sorry, we don't have any," replied Sally.

"Oh well. See ya later!" Knuckles then left for Angel Island.

"Bye, Knuckles! Have a safe trip!" Aside from these few pranks, the rest of the night went without incident, except when Sally sat on a whoopee cushion as she was getting into bed.

* * *

When Sonic came to, he was now in another place that was not Mobius. This place, however, was a bit cleaner than the Middle Ages. The architecture of the buildings here was neat, orderly and symmetric, all made of various stones and materials. Curiously, the buildings here displayed influences from Ancient Greece & Rome. As for the streets, they were paved with cobblestones.

"Man, this place is far out!" remarked Sonic. "Sure beats Eggopolis!" Feeling at ease, he decided to walk rather than run. Like Ancient Greece, only the men walked the streets here because most, if not all, the women were staying home to take care of children. The men here were elaborately dressed, with large coats that had puffy sleeves, tight pants and ornate decorations. A bunch of them also wore large hats. More than one man gave Sonic a strange look, but unlike Ancient Greece, they were more tolerant towards the blue hedgehog. This was the age of the Italian Renaissance, an age where people considered themselves to be more enlightened than in years past, especially the Middle Ages. To be more specific, Sonic was in the city of Florence, one of the major breeding grounds for this vein of history.

After some time, Sonic decided to explore one of the buildings in Florence. The building he chose was the Santissima Annunziata, a basilica that served as the main church of the Servite Order. Sonic was taken in by the elaborate architecture of the place: the intricate carvings, the gold adornments, everything.

"Man, I gotta get back to Knothole," thought Sonic to himself, "but this place is just somethin' else! Maybe I should kick back and dig the scene!" Sonic then picked a random pew to sit down at.

"Greetings, traveler," said the man sitting next to Sonic, an old man with a receding hairline, a long beard and long hair. "What brings you to this place?" Like Ancient Greece & the High Middle Ages, the man spoke English, thanks to the magic of that universal Babelfish, wherever it was.

"Dunno," replied Sonic. "Right now, I'm just chillin'."

"From where do you hail, traveler?"

"I'm from Knothole,"

"I have never heard of such a place."

"It's kinda far away."

"How remarkable! I too have done much traveling in my lifetime, though I am sure that you have come from far away. We never see people such as you here!"

"Yeah, well ya might not see me here much longer. I don't really belong here, see? I gotta get back home!"

"Now that you mention it, I too must be moving on. I have had a workshop here for the past few years, but my work is needed elsewhere."

"A workshop, you say? I gotta see this for myself! May I?"

"Yes, you may," The man led Sonic to the workshop, located on the grounds of the basilica. Inside, there were quite a few boxes & cases. It appeared that this man was already in the process of packing up. A few paintings were still up, along with sketches of various devices. Sonic was perusing the sketches.

"Man, Tails & Rote would go nuts over these!" remarked Sonic.

"Oh, I've forgotten to introduce myself!" said the man. "My name is Leonardo." In fact, he was Leonardo da Vinci, perhaps the foremost "Renaissance man" in Italy.

"I'm Sonic, Sonic the Hedgehog!"

"Pleased to meet you, Sonic! I did not know that hedgehogs were capable of human speech!"

"Well, there's a lot to learn about me!"

"Indeed, there is still so much to learn."

"Here, let me help!" Sonic grabbed some paper & an artist's brush and rapidly churned out a few sketches. Among his sketches were: A motorcycle, a refrigerator & a Sega Genesis.

Then, something else caught Sonic's eye: It was a painting of a brown-haired woman sitting down with her right arm over her left arm. She was facing the viewer and had a curious expression on her face. This was _La Gioconda_, better known to modern audiences as the Mona Lisa.

"Hey Leo, nice painting ya got there!" remarked Sonic, who went over to look at it.

"Well, it's not exactly my best work," said Leonardo.

"Hmmm…on second thought, it could use a little touching up! Allow me!" Sonic grabbed some paints, some brushes & a palette, and then got to work. He also dressed up like Bob Ross for this.

"OK, folks" began Sonic, doing his best Bob Ross impression, "let us start with a nice cobalt blue. Now, for this part, you just wanna go wild with the paint, except over here; be real careful with the hairdo! For the hairdo, come right to a point there, there and there. Next, we'll go with a bright snow white color. Just slap some on over here, a little more over there, with a swish and a swoop and you got it! Now, let's do a nice tan color. Paint a happy little half-moon shape under the eyes right there, and don't forget about that sweet little triangle for the ear up here! Use the knife to straighten out the triangle. And lastly, a couple dabs of jet black here, here, here and here, and you're done! Bravo!"

Having worked quickly and precisely, Sonic had painted his own face over that of the Mona Lisa's original face. Mr. da Vinci was quite shocked to see what the Blue Blur had done to a soon-to-be-famous masterpiece.

"Well, that was fun," said Sonic, "but it's time for me to split! I'm outta here!" Sonic ditched his getup and left not only the Santissima Annunziata, but the city of Florence itself.

As Sonic was speeding through the countryside, he said, "Wow, this place is lookin' sweet! If only the rest of Mobius looked so good!" Eventually, Sonic came to the capital of Rome, which had the same air of glory as it did during the days of the Roman Empire, but with a modern sensibility similar to Florence. Sonic slowed down once he got to Rome.

After a long walk around, he found himself in the Vatican, and soon, the Apostolic Palace. At this time period, the Palace was in a rather poor condition. One place that was relatively good was the Sistine Chapel. It was here that Big Blue observed another historical event in progress: A number of people were painting the ceiling of the chapel, standing on a unique scaffolding system.

"Yo, what's cookin!?" asked Sonic. One of the men, a guy with brown hair, stopped what he was doing and focused his attention on Sonic. Everyone else just gave a brief glance and continued their work.

"Please, do not disturb me!" said the man. "You are delaying the progress of my masterpiece!"

"Says who?" asked Sonic.

"Says I, Michelangelo!"

"OK, sorry dude! I'll let you get back to your work!" He then stepped back a little and watched the guys paint the ceiling of the chapel. Eventually, though, Sonic got bored with the whole thing.

"IIIIIIII'mmmmmmmm waaaaaaaaaaiiiiiiiitiiiiiiii iinnnnnnng!" exclaimed Sonic.

"If you think that you can possibly do a better job than us, then I ask you to demonstrate!" retorted Michelangelo.

"You're on, Mike!" Sonic climbed up the scaffolding & did his thing. Like the Mona Lisa, he painted not only lightning-fast, but neat as well. The results were…interesting. Some of the frescoes he painted were just the same as on the real Sistine Chapel. However, other frescoes, such as _The Creation of Adam_, were biblical scenes with Sonic characters in place of most of the humans. The remaining frescoes depicted scenes from Sonic's life.

"Well, whaddaya think?" asked Sonic. Michelangelo and the others were too stunned to respond, which Sonic interpreted as a sign that they absolutely loved his work.

"I'd love to stay and work some more of my magic," said Sonic, "but I gotta keep on truckin'! Smell ya later, Mike!" Sonic blasted out of the Vatican, out of Rome and was teleported to another new age…

* * *

Morning shone on Knothole, and the Freedom Fighters awakened, expecting to go about their usual routine after eating breakfast and washing up. Alas, in this place & time, the "usual routine" was a luxury that was very hard to come by, as Tails & Rotor had been reminded:

"Oh no! What happened to the laser!?" said Rotor.

"And who did that to Sonic's motorcycle?" wondered Tails. Somebody had completely disassembled the anti-aircraft laser & Sonic's YZ400.

At this point, Sally came over and asked the two: "Have either of you seen Sonic?"

Both of them said "no", and Rotor said: "Right now, we have a bigger problem!"

"What is it?" asked Sally.

"Look!" said Rotor, who pointed out the jumble of parts.

"Oh no! Who could have done this?"

"I don't know, but we must get it back together! Do you have any time to help me out?"

"But what about Sonic?"

"It's OK, Tails & I can re-assemble it if you don't have time!"

After a few seconds of thought, Sally said, "Hold on" and went towards Antoine's hut.

Antoine, meanwhile had just put the final piece onto a work of art he was making: A model of Green Hill Zone made entirely out of popsicle sticks.

"Magnifique!" said Antoine to himself. Bunnie walked in.

"Hey babe, what'cha…" Bunnie was cut off in mid-sentence when she saw Antoine's model. "Leapin' lizards, that is awesome!"

"Merci, my darling! I 'ave making it myself!"

"Oh Antoine, y'all are the greatest!" Just then, Sally came in.

"Bunnie, Antoine, have either of you seen Sonic!?" asked Sally.

"Non, I 'ave not seeing him today," replied Antoine.

"I might have seen him this mornin', but I dunno," replied Bunnie.

"Then he must be in the Great Forest!" said Sally. "NICOLE, search for Sonic's location!"

"Searching…" said NICOLE. "Two possible locations found."

"What!?" exclaimed the three.

"Well, what are we doing now?" asked Antoine.

"Check either location, but be careful!" replied Sally.

"Yes, ma'am!" said Bunnie.

"Yes, my princess!" said Antoine, who went off with Bunnie to look for Sonic. Sally went to help Rotor with the laser, while Tails was working on the bike all by himself.

* * *

Speaking of Sonic, Knuckles was kicking back on his home of Angel Island, guarding the Master Emerald when he saw Sonic.

"Hey, welcome back, Sonic!" said Knuckles. "What brings you up here?"

Actually, this hedgehog wasn't Sonic, either. Unlike Sonic, this one was green instead of blue. Unlike Harry Potter Obama, though, the rest of his body was colored normally. Physically, he was also a bit different from Sonic & Harry Potter Obama. First of all, he had extra spines on his head, extending to the back of his uppermost quill. Speaking of which, this hedgehog had an extra set of quills on his back. Finally, he had large, cartoonish pupils in his eyes.

"Cześć, mam na imię 'Galileo Ogórki Konserwowe the Hedgehog', ale możesz zadzwonić do mnie 'Ogórki the Hedgehog'!" said the green hedgehog.

"OK…whatever you say, Sonic," said Knuckles, who started sniffing around. "What's that smell?"

Ogórki waved his hand in front of his face, palm facing him. He seemed to be a bit out of it.

"Koleś, jestem taaaaaak naćpany już teraz!" said Ogórki "Hej, masz już więcej rzeczy?"

"Sonic, what are you talking about?"asked Knuckles.

"Hej, rasta człowiek chce palić gandzi?"

"Sonic, you all right?"

"Ekscytujące, pączek! Czuję, że jestem na szczycie cholernego świata teraz!" Suddenly, Ogórki started to run off elsewhere.

"Sonic, where are you going!?" Knuckles ran after Ogórki. Suddenly, the two made it to the edge of the floating island, where Ogórki paused and turned to face Knuckles.

"Koleś, to sprawdzić! Jestem samolotemmmmmmm!" Then, he turned around and spread his arms as if they were wings.

"Sonic, NO!" shouted Knuckles. However, Ogórki jumped anyways, plummeting to the ground below like a lead brick.

"Damn it!" exclaimed Knuckles. "No…I can't believe this is happening!" He sulked back to the Master Emerald, sobbing.

* * *

Meanwhile, at Robotnik's HQ, the Doctor was angry about the recent loss.

"NOOO! The IDMRD has been completely destroyed!" exclaimed Robotnik. "The Hedgehog & his blasted friends will pay for this! Snively, where is that blasted cat!?"

"She's not here, sir," replied Snively. "She must have left this dimension."

"THEN GET HER BACK! I am NOT letting anybody get away with this!"

"Excuse me, Your Evilness," said Grounder, "but why don't we forget about that dumb kitty and go after Sonic himself?"

"YOU FOOL! That's exactly what they'll be hoping for!" retorted Robotnik.

"Wait, I have an idea!" said Scratch.

"Sigh…what is it?" replied Robotnik, who was exasperated and in little mood to listen to such things.

"Why don't we just send a few guys to look for Sonic & his friends? That way, when you wanna blast 'em, you'll know where they are!"

"Brilliant, Scratch! Once we've found the Freedom Fighters, they will have no hope of stopping my main attack force! AHAHAHAHAHA!"

* * *

**NOTES/TRIVIA:**

**-While Michelangelo did paint a large portion of the Sistine Chapel by himself, he did have a few assistants for smaller stuff.  
**


	8. Chapter 8: Who's Fooling Who?

While Antoine & Bunnie were looking for Sonic, or…what they thought was Sonic, Harry Potter Obama was speeding through the Great Forest when he ran into Shadow.

"YOU!" exclaimed Shadow. "I have been looking all over this place for you! Playtime is over!"

"哦，真的吗？" said Harry Potter Obama.

"Enough silliness! Now that I've found you, I'm going to…" However, before Shadow could finish his sentence, Harry Potter Obama took out a spray can of sleeping gas & sprayed it in Shadow's face. "do…something…I…Maria…" Shadow collapsed and fell asleep.

* * *

As for Ogórki, he hit the ground and survived. He got up and looked at his hand again.

"Moje palce wyglądają jak małe ludzi! Zrogowaciały to!" said Ogorki. After lowering his hand, he saw Rouge.

"Well hey there, Big Blue!" said Rouge. "Everyone's been looking for you lately. You must be really hot stuff!"

"Miło cię poznać, kochanie! Jestem 'Galileo Ogórki Konserwowe the Hedgehog', ale możesz zadzwonić do mnie 'Ogórki the Hedgehog'!"

"Oh Sonic, it's so cute when you speak gibberish!" said Rouge, with a hint of irony. Then, she started sniffing. "Gee, you smell terrible, Big Blue! Did you play in a garbage dump or something!?"

"Do diabła, jesteś miło wyglądasz mama! Pozwól, że dam ci znak mojej wdzięczności!" Ogórki took Rouge's right hand and kissed it. She slapped him on the cheek.

"Hands off the merchandise, kiddo! My heart only belongs to one man!" Rouge then thought to herself, "Although I AM keeping another option open! Tee hee hee!" Ogorki gave her a slight glare of contempt and ran off.

* * *

The True Blue Hedgehog was still taking a trip through time & space. His trip landed him in a rural area this time, a small town with some wooden houses and plenty of trees. Unlike Ancient Greece or the Renaissance, women could be seen outside their homes. The men here were dressed in shirts, long coats, breeches, stockings & sometimes hats. The women wore dresses, undershirts with long sleeves and caps. Unlike the Renaissance, people's clothes were in plain colors without much decoration, if any.

"Well, there's a forest here," said Sonic to himself, "so maybe I'm back home. One thing's for sure, this ain't Knothole."

Of course, the residents of this village took notice of Sonic. In this place, a blue humanoid hedgehog would have been regarded with more suspicion than the Renaissance. Sonic, undaunted, went up to a man and asked him, "Yo, do you know the way to Knothole?"

Sonic was surprised by the man's reaction. "HELP! Somebody help!" exclaimed the man. "This creature has spoken to me! It is a product of witchcraft! Arrest it!"

"Whoa, what did I do wrong!?" asked Sonic, confused by the man's reaction despite having been through a situation like this before. He witnessed other townspeople descending upon him. "Uh-oh, time for me to blast!" Sonic ran for the woods, easily outrunning the townspeople. Unfortunately, he got stuck once he got to the forest.

"Damn! Mega Muck!" said Sonic. Actually, it wasn't Mega Muck, but it was strong enough to hold him down.

"Come on! Come on!" No matter how hard Sonic tried, he couldn't get out.

"I gotta have one somewhere…" Sonic searched himself for a Power Ring. Because he'd lost his pack, though, that also meant he had no Power Rings, which was unfortunate for Sonic because a couple of the townspeople had spotted him.

"There's the creature!" shouted one of them. "Seize that unnatural being!" Within the minute, the townspeople descended upon Sonic and freed him from the muck. After he was free, they carted him back to town.

"Hey, let me go!" demanded Sonic. "Come on, guys, this is soooo not rad! I'll give you whatever you want! Just let me go!" However, Sonic's words fell on deaf ears. At this moment, he was on his way to becoming one of the first non-human victims of the Salem Witch Trials.

* * *

In the meantime, Shadow awoke from his slumber. As he arose, he saw Cream & Cheese nearby.

"Urg…who are you?" asked Shadow, still a little dazed.

"Why, hello there, Mr. Shadow!" said Cream. "It's me, Cream! Don't you remember me?"

"Chao", said Cheese.

"Oh…I remember now," replied Shadow, who got to his feet.

"Mr. Shadow, what happened to you?"

"What do you mean, 'what happened to me'? Sonic the Fakehog put me under and got away!"

"I mean, what happened to your face?"

"What!? What are you talking about!?"

"Somebody's drawn on your face!"

"Chao chao!" said Cheese

"WHAT!?" exclaimed Shadow, who skated to the nearest body of water. He looked at his reflection, and sure enough, Harry Potter Obama had doodled on his face in white paint while he was asleep.

"GRRRRRR…I'm going to KILL that hedgehog!"

* * *

Speaking of hedgehogs, Bunnie & Antoine were still having no luck finding Sonic.

"Phew…I am getting tires from this!" said Antoine.

"Come on, sug!" said Bunnie. "We can't quit now! We ain't even found Sonic yet!"

Suddenly, Shadow showed up, his face clean.

"AAAAAAHHHHH!" screamed Antoine, who hid behind Bunnie.

"Look, I said I won't hurt you, kid!" said Shadow. Antoine slowly came out from hiding, and Shadow continued: "I just want to find Sonic!"

"Sorry, hon," said Bunnie. "You're barkin' up the same tree as we are! We ain't found him."

"Well, if you find him, could you tell me?" asked Shadow.

"Pardon me, Monsieur Shadow," said Antoine, "but why are you wanting to know where Sonic is?"

"Listen, French Toast, that's for me to know and you to shut up about!" snapped Shadow, who ran off looking for Sonic.

A few moments later, Ogórki showed up.

"Howdy, Sugar-hog!" said Bunnie. "We was just lookin' for y'all!" She started sniffing. "What in tarnation is that!? Smells like soured cucumbers!"

"Wiesz, zawsze chciałem, aby go z laską robota!" said Ogórki, who proceeded to kiss Bunnie's robotic hand. Bunnie blushed when he did so.

"Golly, Sonic! That sure was…unexpected!" said Bunnie, somewhat confused and embarrassed by Ogórki's actions.

"Non, I will not be accepting this!" said Antoine, who stepped in and attempted to defend Bunnie. "C'est ma fille!"

"Antoine, don't get your britches in a bunch!" said Bunnie. "I'm sure that Sonic was just fixin' to be friendly!"

"Prawo na, siostra!" exclaimed Ogórki. He then asked Antoine: "Hey Francuza, masz wszelkie kraku?"

"Pardon?" replied Antoine.

"Wiesz, kraku!" said Ogórki.

"Sonic, I am not overstanding the words that are plumbing out of your mouth!"

"Wiesz, wolna zasada, złygłaz, czerwone czapki, żwir, kryptonitu, pędzić, gąsienica, kotyk, frytki ... kokainy, ziomek!"

"Okay, you are not making any cents or Euros to me! We should be leaving back to Knothole now, yes?"

"Liście? I trochę zdjęć niektóre leki przed wyjazdem, ale w porządku to, dzieciaku!" Ogórki sped off to parts unknown. However, a few seconds later, he returned with the following message:

"Przy okazji, polecam ogóraski chrupasą!" He continued on his way.

"What are we doing now?" wondered Antoine.

"Ah, let him go, hon!" replied Bunnie. "We already found him twice, didn't we? He'll be back!"

"OK, I am 'oping you are right!"

* * *

In Salem Village, Sonic was brought to the local meeting house for a preliminary examination before Judge Jon Hathorne. Hathorne was one of the most notorious judges of the Salem Witch Trials. Also present was Deputy Governor Thomas Danforth.

"Well, it appears that we have a most interesting case here," said Danforth.

"Tell me," began Hathorne. "For what purpose have the Devil's minions summoned you to this Earth?"

"What kinda baloney is that!?" replied Sonic.

"Answer the question, Mr…" said Hathorne, who trailed off. "Pardon me, but we have not been informed of your name."

"Oh, right!" said Sonic. "My name's Sonic the Hedgehog!"

Everyone in attendance was surprised.

"A talking hedgehog?" queried Hathorne. "Why, such a thing is impossible! Therefore, you must be a product of witchcraft!"

"Dude, I wasn't summoned by witches!" exclaimed Sonic. "Quit tryin' to pin that static on me!"

"SILENCE!" bellowed Hathorne. "Now, Mr. Hedgehog, answer the question: For what purpose were you summoned to our village?"

"I don't know, man!"

"If you are guilty, do you really think you can hide it? Tell us the truth: Why were you summoned here?"

"Judge Hathorne," said Danforth, "Please do not press our defendant too hard!"

Hathorne didn't seem to care about Danforth's advisement and asked Sonic, "Why were you summoned here?"

"Look, I don't know!" replied Sonic. "This is all a big mistake, man! I don't belong here!"

"Mr. Hedgehog, we know you are lying!" said Hathorne. "Now, answer the question: Why have they summoned you here!?"

"Joe Mama brought me here!"

"Is this 'Joe Mama' a resident of Salem?"

"Judge Hathorne," interrupted Danforth, "I have no recollection of a man by the name of Joe Mama living in Salem."

"Ah, so you speak falsely yet again!" said Hathorne. "I warn you, perjury is equally as serious as witchcraft!"

"Perjury? What kinda con are you tryin' to pull here!?" demanded Sonic.

"Mr. Hedgehog, do not question my authority! I will not have this village succumb to the scourge of witchcraft! Now, will you answer the question truthfully?"

"Look, I've been givin' it to ya straight, man! What else do ya want?"

"Just answer the question!"

"Judge Hathorne, I believe that we have gone far enough," said Danforth. Hathorne ignored him.

"I say again, answer the question!" demanded Hathorne.

"OK, I tell ya what: If you give me a chili dog, I'll tell ya anything ya wanna hear!" replied Sonic.

"Enough nonsense! If you continue to hold up these proceedings, then I shall have no choice but to find you in contempt!"

"Ah, sit on it, pal!"

"That is it! Deputies, have him jailed!"

A couple of the law enforcement officers here undid Sonic's restraints, which gave Sonic the opportunity to escape. Outside, he was careful to dodge any patches of muck that he might come across. Once again, he was warped through time & space, to an unknown place…

Back in the present day, Harry Potter Obama was running through the Great Forest. Then, a new threat showed up…

* * *

**NOTES/TRIVIA:**

**-Contrary to a number of portrayals, Thomas Danforth (unlike Jon Hathorne) was critical of the way the Salem Witch Trials were carried out and may have been one of the reasons that the trials were stopped.  
**

**-Jon Hathorne is an ancestor of the famous author Nathaniel Hawthorne.  
**


	9. Chapter 9: War Zones

Dr. Robotnik had sent some stealthbots to the Great Forest as a recon force. However, Harry Potter Obama had gotten the drop on them and proceeded to take action. On the ground, he found a gold ring that was glowing. He picked it up, and it turned out to be a Power Ring! Having been energized, he jumped atop the trees and wrecked all the stealthbots with a series of jumps.

* * *

Once again, Sonic found himself in a strange place & time.

"Man, when am I gonna get back to Mobius?" he said to himself. "I just hope this place is friendlier than the last place I was in!" Sonic prepared to speed away, when suddenly…

"Well, lookit what we have here, boys!" said a soldier wearing a grey uniform, accompanied by a group of men wearing identical uniforms.

"Looks like we got us a Union spy!" said another soldier. These men were Confederate soldiers, and Sonic was in the middle of the Civil War.

"Uh-oh! Gotta pack, Jack!" Sonic ran as fast as he could. The group of Confederate soldiers fired at Sonic, but they all missed. Sonic was having quite a time trying to get to a safe zone, because he would sometimes find himself in the middle of battles. Luckily, Sonic made it to friendly territory without serious injury.

Behind the Union lines, Sonic ran into a group of Union soldiers. One of them spoke up:

"Hey, that looks like one of our own!"

"He must be!" said another soldier, who asked Sonic: "Where is the rest of your unit?"

"What unit?" asked Sonic.

"Well, you must have a unit somewhere!" said the same soldier.

"Look, I'm not even with a unit!"

"Well, would you have any interest in joining us?" asked another soldier.

"Gee, I dunno…" replied Sonic.

"We could always use some more men!" said yet another soldier.

"Hmmm…" Sonic gave it a few moments, then said: "OK, I am sold!"

"Good!" said the first soldier. "Let's get back to our camp before the Rebels spot us!" Sonic & the soldiers headed back to the main camp, where the soldiers took Sonic to meet their leader, a guy with a mustache.

"Sir, we have a new recruit here," said one of the soldiers.

"Very well," said the man. "What is your name?"

"I'm Sonic, Sonic the Hedgehog! Reporting for duty, sir!" Sonic saluted the man.

"I am Brigadier General John Buford, 1st Cavalry Division," said the general, who returned the salute. "I am glad you've chosen to join us."

"OK, so when do I get started, sir?"

"First, we must get you prepared for fighting against the Rebels." Thus, Sonic was given a uniform, a rifle and was made to take a crash course in combat training. Sonic's instructors were impressed by his super speed. Though he'd never fired a rifle before and was not fond of using guns, Sonic did all right when it came to the firing range.

Near the end of the day, Sonic had a nice chat with his fellow Union soldiers. Mainly, the chat revolved around where Sonic was from, how he had super speed and what it was like back home. He told them about Dr. Robotnik's takeover, the roboticizing of fellow Mobians, that sort of thing. As to be expected, hardly any of them believed Sonic. Even after he explained things, they still thought he was joking. Nevertheless, they found Sonic to be an agreeable fellow and were proud to have him as part of their unit.

When night fell, however, Sonic couldn't sleep. All he could think about was how much he missed Tails, Sally and all his other friends. He wondered how long he was going to be here. He also wondered if any of this was real or if it was just a dream…

* * *

Back in the present day, Ogórki was running around, minding his own business when Amy Rose tackled him. Amy was a pink hedgehog with a red dress & headband who often pined for Sonic. Contrary to her expectations, Sonic showed no interest in her.

"Oh Sonic, I knew you would come my way!" exclaimed Amy. The two of them stood up. "I just want to be with you forever!" said Amy Then, Amy started sniffing. "Sonic, you smell funny! Did you put on a new kind of aftershave?"

Ogórki turned around and gave Amy an affectionate look while holding her in his arms. "Co piękno! Wiedziałem, że przyjdziesz do mnie, mój aniele!" he said.

"You learned a new language for ME!? That's so sweet of you!"

"Oh, kochanie! Choć uważam się podejrzliwie z półki w Polsce, oddałbym życie za Ciebie!" Ogórki proceeded to kiss Amy.

"Thanks, Sonic! I always knew you loved me!" Ogórki continued kissing her. "Wow…you really love me!" Amy was a bit flustered. Ogórki kept going, though he started to go a bit too far.

"Sonic, what are you doing!?" demanded Amy. "No…Sonic…let me go! Sonic, STOP!" Amy tried to free herself from Ogórki's grasp, but she was having trouble. "Sonic, you're going too fast! AAAH! Stop! STOP!" Luckily, she broke free of Ogórki's grip and bashed him with her Piko Piko Hammer, an oversized hammer that she carried around. Ogórki was knocked cold.

"That'll show you, you weirdo!" Amy ran home.

* * *

Antoine & Bunnie got back to Knothole with the news of Sonic's (Ogórki's, actually) running around.

"Oh no, that's not good!" said Sally. "We need him back here now!"

"Yeah!" said Rotor. "We're almost finished with the laser, but we can't hold off Robotnik's forces by ourselves!"

"I'm pretty much finished with Sonic's bike," said Tails, who was putting some finishing touches on the Yamaha. "I'll see if I can talk to him!"

"Be careful, Tails!" said Sally. Tails flew out into the Great Forest, looking for Sonic. Everyone else went back to their posts.

Antoine opened the door to his hut and discovered Harry Potter Obama there, standing rather close to the Green Hill Zone model.

"Ah, 'allo there, Sonic!" said Antoine. "We are worrying about you!"

Harry Potter Obama sang a song to the tune of the Colonel Bogey March:

"希特勒只投中一睾丸，  
戈林有两个，但非常小，  
希姆莱有几分相似，  
但是可怜的戈培尔有没有在所有的睾丸！"

Harry Potter Obama took a small, plunger-type detonator and pressed the switch.

BOOOM!

Antoine's model of Green Hill Zone was blown up.

"NOOO! My artwork!" screamed Antoine, who fell to his knees, crying. "This is terrible!" Harry Potter Obama got out of there as quickly as he could.

Bunnie came into Antoine's hut. "Antoine, what's wrong?" she asked. Then, she noticed the remains of Antoine's model. "Oh my stars! What happened to your model!?"

"Thrown up! All my 'ard work is throwing up!" Antoine continued crying.

"Oh honey, I feel so bad for you!" Bunnie gave Antoine a hug and attempted to comfort him.

Sally rushed into the hut.

"What happened!?" inquired Sally, who saw the whole thing. "Oh my…"

"Uh…Sally girl, I don't think this is the best time," said Bunnie.

"Yes, I understand," Sally left Antoine & Bunnie alone.

* * *

Meanwhile, Tails was keeping an eye out for Sonic. So far, he hadn't had much luck, until he spotted a green streak running through the forest. He descended for a closer look.

"SONIC!" exclaimed Tails. Actually, it was Ogórki, but Tails didn't know that and radioed in to Sally:

"This is Orange Wonder to base, I've found Old Blue, over!"

"Base to Orange Wonder," said Sally, "see if you can bring him home, out!"

"Got it! Orange Wonder out!" Tails focused on Ogórki.

"Hey Sonic, Aunt Sally wants you home!" said Tails.

"Zapomnij o tym, dzieciaku!" retorted Ogórki.

"What did you say, Sonic?"

"Powiedziałem o tym zapomnieć! Jestem wysoki walcowania już teraz!"

"I'm sorry, but I can't understand you!"

"Idź sobie! Jestem wyższy niż z prędkością światła! To ja i prędkość, i nie jest nigdy nie wróci, frajerze!"

"Sonic, come back! You're heading right…back…for…" Tails got tired and had to land. As a result, he lost Ogórki.

After a couple seconds of trying to catch his breath, Tails radioed Sally:

"Base…this is the Orange Wonder! I've lost him, over!"

"Oh no!" said Sally. "What direction was he heading in? Over!"

"He was heading for Eggopolis, over!"

"Oh no, that's very bad! Orange Wonder, report back and get the device ready! We'll worry about Old Blue! Base out!"

"Roger! Orange Wonder Out!" As soon as Tails was feeling recharged, he headed back for Knothole.

* * *

The next day, Sonic got up at reveille. He was feeling pretty groggy because he didn't sleep so well. Adding to this was the fact that they had to get up early. However, the day's breakfast – hardtack and coffee – gave Sonic a bit of a jolt. He nearly broke his teeth trying to eat the hardtack, though. One of his Union comrades showed him the trick to eating it: dunking it in the coffee.

"Thanks, man," said Sonic, "but I really wish I had a chili dog right now! It's been ages since I had one!"

"What is a 'chili dog'?" asked the soldier. Sonic told him the details.

"Sorry, friend, but we do not have any of those here," said the soldier. "Of course, they usually give us salt pork or beef, so that might suit you. Of course, we are lucky if the stuff has no maggots in it!"

"Maggots!? BLECH!" exclaimed Sonic.

"I understand how you feel, friend. Now come, I think we have to move out now!"

"Got it! By the way, what's your name?"

"Name's Robert."

"I'm Sonic the Hedgehog…but ya probably already knew that one, huh?"

After the morning routine, Buford's division marched on. Sonic hardly broke a sweat during the march, but he was worried about the whole thing. He had good reason to worry, too: The Union troops were setting up at Herr's Ridge, McPherson Ridge and Seminary Ridge, and it was here that they were to hold off the Confederate troops in the opening hours of the Battle of Gettysburg.

At first, nobody came. Sonic was eager to see some action.

"IIIIIIIIII'mmmmmmm waaaaaaaiiiiiiiiiitiiiiiiinn nnnnnnng!" said Sonic, tapping his foot.

"Hey, calm down!" said one of the soldiers. "Why are you so eager to face the Rebels anyways? Do you really want to die?"

"Naw man, I just wanna get back home!"

"Hey, we all want to get back home! Just have a little patience and maybe we will get out of this alive!"

"Whatever ya say, pal!"

Eventually, the Confederates showed up. When the gunfire started, Sonic dropped his Sharps rifle and ran. No, he didn't retreat. Rather, he dodged the Union & Confederate bullets as best as he could and tried to distract the Confederates. It worked pretty well, but then, Sonic was sent through time & space yet again…

* * *

**NOTES/TRIVIA:**

**-Sharps Rifle: A breech-loading, single-shot rifle that was popular with both the Union & Confederate Armies during the Civil War.  
**


	10. Chapter 10: The Apple Bites Back

Dr. Robotnik was not too pleased to hear that his recon force had been destroyed.

"THEN SEND ANOTHER ONE!" ordered Robotnik. "I will capture those Freedom Fighters even if it's the last thing that I ever do!"

"Yes sir" said Snively. "Oh, I'd give anything to replace that egghead!" he grumbled to himself.

Little did Robotnik or his cohorts know that someone was out to cause trouble in Eggopolis…

* * *

Sonic's new destination was unlike the others he'd been to. It was a dense urban area, where the streets were paved and automobiles were now commonplace. This was about as close as Sonic would get to Eggopolis, and it looked like heaven compared to Robotnik's capital. However, it wasn't perfect. Traffic was quite heavy, the buildings were pretty dirty and the city was overall worn down. This was New York City in June 1977.

Sonic was absolutely awed by the immense size of the city. Naturally, he took his time and took in the view. At this moment, Sonic was heading north on Madison Avenue, renowned as the advertising Mecca of New York, if not the world. Aside from the fact that this civilization was closer to what he remembered in Emerald City, what really got him was the height of the buildings. Even in Emerald City/Eggopolis, he'd never seen buildings this tall! Sonic slowed his pace and just looked up at the buildings. While he was looking up, he accidentally bumped into a guy.

"HEY, watch where you're goin', kid!" said the man.

"Sorry!" said Sonic. He continued walking, but was more cautious this time. As he crossed 30th Street, he nearly got hit by a Checker taxicab. The cab driver slammed on his brakes while honking his horn.

"Get outta the road, asshole!" shouted the cab driver.

"Whoa, sorry!" said Sonic. "Be more careful, will ya!?"

"Ah, shut up!" retorted the cab driver, who continued driving. Sonic got on his way.

"Man, people here sure are rude!" thought Sonic. "Oh well, at least they have minds of their own, unlike the citizens of Eggopolis!" He continued walking when he spotted a guy running in his direction. This fellow had black hair, tan skin and was pretty slight of build. He wore a ragged gray jacket, a white undershirt & roughed-up jeans.

What really caught Sonic's attention, though, was the fact that this man was carrying a brown leather purse. In fact, the man had stolen it.

"Oh no, you ain't gettin' away with that, man!" said Sonic, who did a spin dash and knocked the guy over.

Shortly after, a woman came running from the same direction. She had long, feathered blonde hair, blue eyes and fair skin. She wore a brown long-sleeved shirt, tan bell-bottom pants and brown shoes. This was the woman whose purse had been stolen.

"Oh, thank you!" cried the woman to Sonic. The purse snatcher was just recovering from the punishing hit that he'd received when an NYPD car showed up, a 1975 Plymouth Fury with unit number 2391. The driver activated the Signal-Stat lightbar and blasted the siren a couple of times as he pulled over. Two officers stepped out of the car and approached the party.

"What happened here?" asked the driver.

"This man tried to steal my purse!" replied the woman, pointing to the purse-snatcher.

"Okay, pal, lay face-down on the ground and put your hands behind your head!" ordered the driver.

"You too, buddy!" said the second officer to Sonic.

"What!? What'd I do?" asked Sonic.

"Wait a minute…what the hell!?" said the second officer, just one of many who hadn't seen a blue talking hedgehog in real life. "All right, get your hands behind your head, you freak!" ordered the second officer, who moved closer to Sonic.

"Hey, I didn't do nothin'!" The officer didn't listen and kept going for Sonic. "I'm outta here!" Sonic ran away. Having seen one of the weirdest things in his life, the second officer rushed back to the RMP and got in the driver's seat.

"Just take care of those two! I'm goin' after that other one!" said the second officer to the first. He hit the gas and tried to pursue Sonic.

"691 to Central, I've got a 10-64A last seen eastbound on 32nd Street," said the officer over the police radio.

"Affirmative," said the dispatcher. "All units in the 14th & 13th Precincts, 691 reports a 10-64A last seen eastbound on 32nd Street. I repeat, 10-64A last seen eastbound on 32nd Street. Any unit in the vicinity, please respond. KEA394." However, when the officer got to the intersection of 32nd Street and Park Avenue, he'd lost sight of the Blue Blur.

"Damn it!" exclaimed the officer.

By now, Sonic was near the 28th Street subway station. However, another NYPD officer spotted him.

"Hey you, stop!" ordered the officer. Sonic just kept running and jumped over one of the turnstiles in the subway station. He hid amongst the crowd to avoid detection. Just a few seconds later, a train pulled up, all covered in graffiti. A bunch of people filed out.

With a few less people in the train, Sonic went inside and went for one of the less-crowded cars. He felt a bit nervous after seeing some odd-looking people here, but outside, he looked pretty calm and composed.

"23rd Street, next stop; next stop, 23rd Street," said the motorman. Sonic kicked back and tried to enjoy the ride. He would've gotten off at the 23rd Street station, but there were a couple of NYPD officers on the platform, so he just stayed on and hoped the next stop would be clear. "14th Street, next stop; Next stop, 14th Street."

Sonic's car was empty except for three other people: A clean-shaven white guy with long brown hair & a fedora, a Hispanic guy with an afro & a goatee, and a white guy with black, somewhat grayed hair and a mustache. The third guy was reading a newspaper. The first two guys walked over to him. The guy with the fedora took a switchblade and sliced the newspaper in half.

"Give us the money, pal!" ordered the guy with the fedora. The old guy said nothing.

"Hand it over, puto," said the guy with the afro. The old guy remained silent. He calmly put down the remains of his paper and reached for something. It was a Colt Police Positive revolver! Sonic watched as the old guy casually shot the two muggers. The man got up from his seat and walked over to the fedora-wearing guy.

"Hmmm…you don't look so bad," said the old guy, "here's another!" He shot the fedora-wearing guy in the head, killing him.

Sonic didn't say anything. He just slipped into the previous car before the old guy saw him. Once the train came to a stop, Sonic meshed in with the crowd and tried to avoid being detected by the police. A couple of people screamed when they saw the dead bodies in Sonic's car. Sonic just kept calm and carried on, even as an NYPD officer rushed over to investigate the scene.

Back on ground level, Sonic wiped the sweat from his brow. "Still beats Eggopolis," he thought to himself. He continued to explore the city, trying to avoid police detection. Nothing of note happened except a car accident. The two motorists decided that it would be fun to beat the crap out of each other rather than talk it over like civilized people. Soon, he encountered the same woman whose purse had been snatched.

"Hey, it's you!" exclaimed the woman.

"AAAH! Don't turn me in!" exclaimed Sonic.

"It's okay, I'm not going to have you arrested!" assured the woman. "I just wanted to thank you for stopping that purse snatcher!"

"Really?" said Sonic. "No problemo! Always glad to help!"

"By the way, what's your name?"

"I'm Sonic…Sonic the Hedgehog!"

"My name's Sharon, Sharon St. Martin. Wait…did you say you were a hedgehog?"

"Right on!"

"Far out! I've never seen a talking hedgehog before! Wait…you can't be real; you must be some kind of ghost or something!"

"Lady, do I LOOK like a ghost to ya?"

"No…I guess not."

"Well…it was nice meetin' ya, Sharon, but I gotta split! Smell ya later!" Sonic prepared to run away, but Sharon stopped him.

"Wait, where is your owner?" asked Sharon.

"Don't have one!" replied Sonic.

"Oh, you poor thing! I've got an idea: Why don't you come back to my place?"

"Gee, I'd love to, but I kinda gotta get back home"

"But if you don't have an owner, then where is your home?"

"Well, wherever it is, it sure ain't here!"

"Are you sure you don't want to stay with me?"

Sonic paused for a few seconds. "Well…on second thought…I guess I could stay with you for a little bit…" he said.

"Great!" said Sharon. "Let's go! Only one problem…"

"What's that?"

"The landlord doesn't allow pets in the apartment."

"No problemo!" Sonic whipped out another disguise: A trench coat & fedora.

"No way!" exclaimed Sharon. "That is just dynamite! Where'd you get that bag!?"

"I'll explain later! Let's jam!"

* * *

Returning to the present day, Cream was walking about in the Great Forest with Cheese, having a good time. All of a sudden, they ran into Harry Potter Obama.

"Well, hello Mr. Sonic!" said Cream. "Your friends have been looking for you! They must be really worried!"

"Chao chao!" agreed Cheese.

"嘿，窝囊废，你玩游戏吗？" asked Harry Potter Obama.

"Excuse me, but could you say that again?" asked Cream.

"我知道，让我们玩远离！" said Harry Potter Obama, who proceeded to grab Cheese.

"Mr. Sonic, what are you doing!?" said Cream. She was powerless to prevent Harry Potter Obama from pulling Cheese out of her grasp.

"CHAO! CHAO CHAO!" screamed Cheese.

"远离！" exclaimed Harry Potter Obama, who threw Cheese over Cream's head and proceeded to catch him at the other side.

"No, please stop this!" begged Cream, who jumped up and attempted to catch Cheese. Unfortunately, Harry Potter Obama was just too good at this game.

"远离！" exclaimed Harry Potter Obama as he continued his game. Eventually, he decided to run away with Cheese. Cream ran after him.

"No!" yelled Cream. "Sonic, please give Cheese back!"

"CHAO!" cried Cheese. Harry Potter Obama kept running. Unfortunately, Cream couldn't keep up with him and lost him. She started crying and ran back home.

* * *

Meanwhile, Ogórki was in Eggopolis, a place where the real Sonic dared not go without good reason. However, Ogórki was lower on reason than True Blue, so he entered the city limits. At first, he chose to stay hidden, observing Robotnik's troops in the city. However, when he saw some or Robotnik's troops and aircraft mobilizing, that's when he chose to attack. He swooped in, did some spin attacks and some jump attacks, killing a whole bunch of SWATbots and stealthbots in the process.

At the same time, Harry Potter Obama was taking out another recon group in the Great Forest. In addition to a couple of jump attacks, he also threw Cheese and used him as a projectile.

At Robotnik's HQ, Snively was observing the whole thing.

"Sir, you must see this!" said Snively.

"Grrrr…WHAT is it, Snively?" asked Robotnik, who was already annoyed enough.

"Look!" Robotnik looked at the monitors and saw what he thought were two Sonics.

"There's TWO OF THEM!?" exclaimed the Doctor. "HOW is this possible!?"

"I-I don't know, sir…" replied Snively.

"I DON'T CARE! This time, we are going to throw everything we have at those Freedom Fighters! They'll pay for all the misery they've caused me! THEY'LL ALL PAY! HA HA, AHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

* * *

Above all the madness, on Angel Island, Rouge was paying a visit to Knuckles, who was still distraught over the perceived death of Sonic.

"Hey there, Knuckie, what's up?" asked Rouge, who was in a rather pleasant mood.

"Rouge, go away!" responded Knuckles. "Whatever it is, I'm not in the mood for it right now!"

"Awww, what's wrong?" Rouge was concerned by Knuckles' sullen attitude.

"It's Sonic. He's…he's dead!" Knuckles shed a few tears upon mentioning this.

"What!? Sonic!?" However, Rouge calmed down as she remembered her earlier encounter with him. "Knuckie, Big Blue's not dead!"

"He's…not?"

"No, I saw him a while ago!" Afterwards, Rouge thought: "Although he could use a bath!"

"But I saw him jump off this island! I saw it with my very own eyes!"

"Well, he must have survived the fall. It was a pretty stupid thing of him to do, but what can I say? He's a pretty random guy!"

"Well, at least I know he's alive. That's a relief! Thanks a lot Rouge, it was nice to see you!"

"Not so fast, Knuckie! I believe you've got something that I want!" said Rouge in a sly tone of voice.

"I…do?" Knuckles was initially confused, but once he deduced what Rouge meant, he took on a more cunning tone: "Oh yeah…I do have something for you! Here!" He tackled Rouge to the ground and started tickling her.

"Knuckie, you're terrible! What kind of gentleman…does…" Rouge trailed off because she was laughing too hard. The two of them had quite a fun time up there. Well…Knuckles, mostly.

* * *

Sharon's apartment was located in Greenwich Village, down on 11th Street. The place was small, but livable, with the minimum of furniture needed to live well, plus a few extra adornments. It wasn't squeaky clean, but it wasn't horribly filthy like a bunch of apartments in the city were.

Sharon & Sonic were having a conversation over supper. Sharon had ordered Chinese takeout for herself. For Sonic, she got him a can of cat food.

"You expect me to eat this slop!?" said Sonic. "This is bogus!"

"I'm sorry," said Sharon "It's just that I thought…you know, because you were a hedgehog…it was all that I had!"

"It's cool, Sharon! You ain't the first one to make that mistake! Trust me, I am hip with eatin' people food!"

"Well, all right, I believe you," Sharonshared some of her takeout with Sonic. He would much rather have had a chili dog, but this was also acceptable to his palate. "Thanks, Sharon! Sure beats hardtack!" said Sonic.

"So, where are you from?" asked Sharon.

"I'm from…uh…" Sonic paused for a bit. He didn't feel like telling the truth because he thought she wouldn't believe him. Finally, he replied "…Nebraska!"

"Wow, really!? Hey, I'm from Nebraska, too! Gretna, to be exact. What about you?"

Sonic was pressed yet again, but he was fairly quick and replied, "Hardly!"

"Hardly? Never heard of it," said Sharon.

"Ah, it's a small town. I don't think anybody's heard of it!"

"Gretna's quite small, too. So, what do you do for a living?"

"Not much. I just run around and do whatever needs doin'!"

"Gee, I'd give anything for that job, but I don't think it's going to pay the bills. For now, I'm working at a local bakery until my singing career takes off."

"Singing career?"

"Yeah, I've always wanted to be a singer."

"Is that why you moved to this dump!?"

"OK, it's not the best place in the world to live, but I heard it's the best place to go if you want to get a career in show biz. Besides, after a while, you'll get used to this place!"

At that moment, Sonic heard a few gunshots off in the distance.

"Does that happen a lot?" asked Sonic.

"Oh, it happens quite a bit," replied Sharon. "Like I said, this isn't exactly the best place to live, but I hear it's worse over in Brooklyn & the Bronx."

"Heck, any place here has gotta be boss compared to Emerald City!"

"Emerald City? Isn't that from _The Wizard of Oz?_"

"Nah, that's a totally different joint." Sonic gave Sharon an explanation of what Eggopolis (Emerald City) was like. However, he left out or glossed over a few things because he didn't want Sharon to think he was crazy. For example, he didn't talk about Dr. Robotnik (directly, anyways) and he didn't say that anybody had actually been roboticized. Still, the description he gave painted a clear picture in Sharon's mind.

"That's…that's horrible!" said Sharon.

"I know," said Sonic.

After dinner, Sonic sat around feeling bored.

"Hey Sharon, do ya mind if I listen to some tunes?" asked Sonic.

"No, go right ahead," replied Sharon.

"OK! I hope ya like rock 'n' roll!" said Sonic.

"Rock music's all right," said Sharon. Sonic turned on the radio and searched the dial for a rock station. It didn't take too long for him to find one.

"You're listening to WSTH, New York's number-one rock station!" said the DJ, a young man. "If you don't hear it here, you won't hear it anywhere! Next up, we got a couple of radical numbers from Led Zeppelin!" At that moment, the radio started playing "Heartbreaker + Living Loving Maid (She's Just a Woman)".

"All right!" exclaimed Sonic, who jammed out to the song. Suddenly, while "Heartbreaker" was still playing, a news flash came on:

"We interrupt this program for a breaking news announcement," began the news announcer, an older man. "Police are investigating a recent series of killings in Union Square. The victims were apparently killed by a power drill. So far, there appears to be no connection or pattern between these victims. We now return to our regularly-scheduled broadcast."

"Ah, still better than Eggopolis," thought Sonic as he continued listening to the radio. WSTH played music by well-known bands such as The Who, Black Sabbath, ELO, and Boston, but they also played music by lesser-known artists such as Diamond Reo, Jo Jo Gunne, Hard Stuff and Thundermug.

When it was getting late, Sonic went to brush his teeth. However, when he turned on one of the faucets, a stream of fire came out instead of water.

"Yo, Sharon, is the sink supposed to shoot fire!?" asked Sonic as he shut off the faucet.

"That's happened to me a lot," replied Sharon. "I don't know why, though."

"Ah, I guess I'll try again." Sonic's second try produced the logical result.

When it came time for bed, there was a bit of a problem: Sharon only had a bed large enough for one person, and because she didn't entirely trust Sonic yet, Big Blue had to sleep elsewhere. He found a comfy little chair in Sharon's bedroom and curled up in that one. However, sleep was fairly useless to him because, like the Civil War, he couldn't help but think of all his friends and how they must be missing him. That, and he was bothered by the traffic noises & random gunshots.

* * *

**NOTES/TRIVIA:**

**-"Checker cab" refers to the Checker Marathon, a car produced from 1956-1982.  
**

**-RMP: "Radio Motor Patrol", NYPD term for a police car.  
**

**-Nowadays, the call sign "WSTH" belongs to a country station in Alexander City, Alabama. No idea who had this call sign before them, since they began in 1988.  
**


	11. Chapter 11: An Apple a Day

Well, Sonic did manage some sleep, but again, he felt a bit groggy when he awoke. Thankfully, Sharon had a decent breakfast for Sonic: Bacon, eggs & a chocolate-chip muffin, plus a nice cup of tea to cleanse one's soul. Sonic choked down the eggs as best as he could, but he had no problems with the rest of his breakfast.

"Good morning, Sonic," said Sharon. "How are you?"

"Ugh…I feel pretty tired," replied Sonic. "How do ya manage to sleep in this place!?"

"Don't worry, Sonic. You'll…"

"I know, I know, I'll get used to it. Problem is, I never got used to Emerald City."

"Trust me, Sonic, New York's different! Don't ever give up hope, no matter what happens!"

"Heh, maybe you're right. Thanks for the food, by the way!"

"You're welcome! I don't usually take in visitors here, but I like having you here!"

"What can I say? I'm the coolest hedgehog in the world! Who wouldn't want me!?"

After breakfast, Sharon took a shower and got dressed for work. Before she went to work, however, she told Sonic, "I'll be back this afternoon. I've got a gig at The Village Vanguard tonight, too! You wanna come see it?"

"Sounds good!" replied Sonic. "Smell ya later, Sharon!"

"Bye, Sonic! Don't go out there and get in trouble, OK?" With that, Sharon left for work.

Sonic, meanwhile, kicked back and listened to the radio. However, after a while, he got bored and just started staring out the window. He really missed Knothole Village and wanted to get back, but how? For all he knew, this teleportation jazz was outside of his control, and his days within this void that we call "time & space" seemed to be getting longer and longer.

As a hedgehog, Sonic was frustrated by being stuck in an enclosed space without much to do. Eventually, he decided to leave the apartment and explore the Big Apple, even if he got eaten alive…

* * *

Back in the present day, Cream ran back to her house, a small cottage near the edges of the Great Forest. Still crying, she ran over to her mother, Vanilla. Barring the obvious age & height differences, Vanilla looked practically identical to her daughter. However, she had darker eyeshadow and a tuft of orange hair on her head. She wore a lavender dress and dark red vest. At this moment, Vanilla had been getting ready to make supper when Cream interrupted.

"Mommy! Mommy! You must help me, please!" begged Cream.

"Cream, what's wrong?" asked Vanilla. "Please, settle down and tell me."

Cream did her best to calm down and replied: "It's about Mr. Sonic! He…he…"

"Yes, Cream?"

"…he kidnapped Cheese! I tried to stop him but…he got away and now I…I…" Cream started crying again. Vanilla gave her a hug and attempted to comfort her.

"Don't cry, honey. I'll help you find Cheese!"

"Thank you, mother! I love you!"

"I love you too, Cream! Now, let's go find Cheese!" After Cream settled down, she & Vanilla ran out into the depths of the Great Forest, hoping to find Cheese.

* * *

Back in New York City, Sonic ran out into the depths of a concrete-and-steel forest. Despite Sharon's orders, he just couldn't help it. He didn't even care if the NYPD started a citywide manhunt for him, either. He just wanted some fresh air, exercise & all "the good stuff". His running around soon took him to Central Park, probably the largest open space in the Big Apple. In this era, the park was worn down, like a lot of other things in the city. Still, it was the closest that Sonic would get to the Great Forest here.

After much running around, Sonic decided to relax by a tree. However, he even got bored with the park and decided to go elsewhere. However, he noticed a horse and carriage with a couple riding in it, which gave him an idea. He went over to the carriage and said to the driver, "Hey, wanna race?" after which he sped off. Unfortunately for the driver and passengers, the horse was spooked and started running off wildly.

After a few moments, Sonic stopped for a bit and thought, "Man, I'm gettin' pretty hungry!" He located a food cart in the city and asked the vendor for 12 chili dogs.

"$9.60" said the vendor. Sonic pulled out a 10-Mobium bill and handed it to the guy.

"Hey, what kinda money is this, man?" asked the vendor.

"What, you don't take Mobiums?" said Sonic.

"Naw man, we only take green here! You got any of that?"

"Green? Sorry pal, but that's all I got!"

"Hey man, I'm sorry, but I can't take this! Come back when you got some real green, all right?"

"Yeah, sure!" Sonic left in a hurry. "Ah, I wasn't that hungry, anyways!" he thought to himself. While roaming the city streets, he encountered a black man wearing sunglasses and carrying a boombox.

"Hey, what's happenin', little man?" said the guy. Sonic couldn't help but notice that the boombox was playing a break from some funk/disco song.

"Yo, that's a heavy beat ya got there!" exclaimed Sonic. "Check this!" Sonic grabbed a microphone and belted out the following rap:

"Listen up, y'all, it's time to groove,

I'm MC Sonic, and I got the moves!

I'm the cobalt hedgehog with the super speed,

And when I'm on the case, I always succeed!

Around the world, people know my name,

'Cause fightin' for liberty is my game!

You see, I got some friends who help me too,

And we go by the name of the Knothole Crew!

There's Tails, my man, who's super fly,

There's Sally, who's the apple of my eye!

Knuckles & Bunnie, they'll both break through,

Antoine & Rotor, they complete the crew!

I got a beef with this cat by the name of Robotnik,

Who's tryin' to stop my jam, but he gets his butt kicked!

Now ya know my name and ya know my tale,

And with my super speed, I never fail!"

"Whoa, that was fly, man!" exclaimed the guy, who exchanged a dap greeting with Sonic. "You should get down with me & my friends sometime!"

"Maybe later, man! Right now, I gotta keep on truckin'!" Sonic sped off into the concrete jungle.

"Outta sight!" said the guy, who stood there for a couple of moments, amazed by the sight of the Blue Blur & his super speed.

However, the Speed Demon couldn't really keep up his super speed for extended periods of time because hunger was starting to get to him. Shortly after he slowed down, he was lucky enough to find a $100 bill.

"Oh yeah!" exclaimed Sonic, who pocketed the Ben and went to find another food cart. He found another one that had chili dogs and ordered 12 of them. Like the other one, this guy charged $9.60

"Here ya go!" said Sonic, who handed him the $100.

"What are ya, nuts!?" exclaimed the vendor. "I can't break this!"

"Hey man, it's the only one I got!"

"Sorry kid, no dough, no dogs!"

"*Sigh*…all right! But what am I gonna do with this?"

"Look, just go to a bank or spend it! Don't bother me if ya got nothin' smaller!"

"OK then!" Sonic went to look for a bank. After much searching, he found one and spoke to one of the tellers:

"Excuse me, but could ya please break this?" asked Sonic, who handed the teller the $100 bill.

"Sure!" replied the teller. "How do you want it broken down?"

"Hmmm…just give me a buncha random bills, OK?"

"But what bills do you want, sir?"

"I dunno, what bills ya got?"

"Well, we have fifties, twenties, tens, fives and ones."

"OK, don't gimme anything larger than a twenty, please!"

"OK then". The teller gave Sonic two $20 bills, three $10s, four $5s and the rest were $1s.

"Thanks, lady! Gotta juice!" Before he could leave, though, he ran into a couple of bank robbers, all wearing ski masks, two armed with .45s and one with a shotgun.

"ALL RIGHT, EVERYBODY DOWN!" shouted the first robber. "GET DOWN, NOW! NOW!" Everybody complied except Sonic.

"Are you deaf, kid!?" said the robber, who pointed his gun at Sonic. "I SAID GET DOWN!"

Sonic was initially frightened, but then, his confidence returned. "Okayyyy…" Sonic slowly made his way to the floor. Suddenly, he did a spin dash and knocked the robbers down as if they were bowling pins!

"Everyone all right!?" asked Sonic. The employees and customers remained silent, astonished by what they saw.

Having thwarted the robbery and evading detection by the NYPD, Sonic headed back to the same food cart that he went to earlier.

"Hey kid, I thought I told ya to…" began the vendor. Sonic flashed a crisp $10 bill.

"Now, about those 12 chili dogs…" said Sonic. The vendor took the money and gave Sonic 40 cents in change. Once Sonic got his chili dogs, he devoured them with gusto.

"Thanks, pal! Time to fit & split!"

* * *

Near the outskirts of the Great Forest, Amy had shuttered herself inside her hut, terrified that she would be followed by Ogórki. She locked all the doors tight and closed the curtains. Afterwards, she slumped to the floor, hoping that the mad green hedgehog wouldn't find her. Every so often, Amy peeked out the curtain to make sure that Ogórki wasn't there.

Eventually, Amy worked up the courage to go back outside. She unlocked the front door, slowly opened it and tiptoed outside.

"Phew, I think I finally lost that weirdo!" thought Amy. However, her relief was cut short when she saw a squadron of stealthbots and hover bots headed her way.

"Oh no, I am not seeing this!" said Amy to herself. She pulled out her Piko Piko Hammer and started engaging Robotnik's forces. First, she propelled herself into the air with a hammer jump. Then, using the aircraft as platforms, she jumped to each one and destroyed them.

Meanwhile, Robotnik was observing her on one of the bots' surveillance cameras.

"Yes, that's right! Knock my forces out of the sky!" said Robotnik to himself. "This is only the first wave!"

* * *

Sonic continued his tour of NYC, making a stop at the Broadway Arcade on 52nd & Broadway. Here, he turned in $2 for quarters and looked for a suitable machine. After a little searching around, he found a pinball machine called _Super Sonic Spinball_, which contrary to the expectations of future generations, had no mention of the Fastest Thing Alive, instead having a tornado-like theme to it.

Sonic popped a quarter in and started playing. However, at only 3'3", he could barely see the playing field even when standing on his toes, so he got a leg up onto the machine to see the field better. Even with the height problem, Sonic was really making his mark with this machine. His form was something to behold; he engaged in a sort of "pinball ballet" with the machine. It showed, too: Well into the game, Sonic had already attracted a crowd of people. Despite this, he never lost a ball. Eventually, having racked up an insane score, he got bored with the machine and dismounted.

"Thank you, thank you!" said Sonic, quite taken with what he believed to be an adoring legion of fans. "Now if you'll excuse me, I gotta be goin'! Smell ya later!" Sonic went full speed towards his next destination.

Next, Sonic ended up at the Lyric, a movie theater on 213 West 42nd Street. The marquee advertised a film called _The French Guide to Marriage_, billed as "one of the most stimulating films this year!" He went in and bought a ticket.

"Wait…ain't you a little young for this kind of thing?" inquired the ticket salesman.

"Believe me, I'm older than I look!" replied Sonic, who took his ticket and went in to catch the show. It hadn't been a few moments, however, before he bolted out of the theater, feeling like he was going to vomit. As it turned out, he'd unknowingly gone into a porno theater.

"Yuck! I didn't even think that was possible!" exclaimed Sonic, who went in search of a more reputable theater. He found one at Astor Plaza on 44th Street, playing a movie that was billed as "The Year's Best Movie" by _Time_ magazine. Sonic got his ticket, plus some popcorn and a large Coke. The film? _Star Wars_. Well, to be specific, it was _Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope_, but it wasn't called that until a few years later.

Anyways, Sonic left the theater with a joyous feeling. Judging by the fact that he was now singing the opening theme from _Star Wars_, he really enjoyed it. With his spirit refreshed, the Blue Blur continued to make the Big Apple his personal racetrack, that is, until he was spotted by an NYPD officer for the first time today.

"Hey you, freeze!" ordered the officer. Sonic decided that now was the best time to get back, so he ran to Sharon's apartment as quickly as he could.

Speaking of Sharon, during her break time at Rosen's Bakery, she was writing down a little something…

* * *

In Mobius, Harry Potter Obama had tied Cheese to a tree somewhere in the Great Forest and was guarding him carefully.

"这一切都结束了，朋克！不久，我将成为头号幼齿！" said Harry Potter Obama.

"CHAO CHAO CHAO!" begged Cheese as he struggled to break free of his bonds.

"你哪儿都不能去！" taunted Harry Potter Obama. "不久的将来，你的骨骼将成为我的晚餐，我必喝你的血从你那可怜的小骷髅！HA HA HA HA HA！"

"All right, Sonic, I've had enough!" Shadow arrived on scene. Harry Potter Obama paused, but ignored Shadow.

"Hey, I'm talking to you, faker!" exclaimed Shadow. Harry Potter Obama. glanced over his shoulder at Shadow.

"你是在跟我说话吗？你叫我骗子吗？" replied Harry Potter Obama.

"Now you listen here, I have had ENOUGH of your foolish behavior since yesterday! Now, it's time for you to…"

"CHAO!" cried out Cheese, begging for help.

"What was that!?" wondered Shadow. He moved Harry Potter Obama aside and saw poor Cheese, tied to the tree. Shadow was both astonished and angered by this.

"Wait a minute…that's Cream's little pet!" exclaimed Shadow. "And now you've started kidnapping, too!?"

"很酷，对吧？" replied Harry Potter Obama. "不久，我必吃蚕豆和酒，把他的肝脏！"

"All right, that's the last straw, faker! You just crossed the line, and now it's time for you to pay! CHAOS SPEAR!"

Shadow fired a spear-shaped lightning bolt at Harry Potter Obama, killing him.

"Welcome to hell, Sonic!" said Shadow. "Ha ha ha!" With the Technicolor hedgehog wiped out, Shadow set to work on freeing Cheese.

"Are you all right?" asked Shadow.

"CHAO CHAO!" cried Cheese, who was scared.

"Don't be afraid, I'm not going to hurt you!"

"CHAO!"

"I said, I'm not going to hurt you! Now please, remain calm while I undo the rope!" Shadow began undoing the rope.

"CHAO! Chao Chao CHAO!"

"How many times do I have to tell you that I'm not going to hurt you!? Damn, you're an annoying little…" Shadow was interrupted when something tapped him on the shoulder. He turned around to see what it was. It was Harry Potter Obama, who was still alive! Only, he looked different. Now, he was taller and more muscular than before. His general form was similar to that of a Werehog, but he was not a Werehog. Nevertheless, Shadow was undeterred by the mutated hedgehog.

"I see you've survived the Chaos Spear. Well played!" said Shadow.

Harry Potter Obama growled at him.

"You seem like a tough guy, so here's another! CHAOS SPEAR!"

This time, though, Harry Potter Obama seemed to withstand the spear better than before. After a couple of seconds, he got back up. Now, he was angry.

"WHAT!? How did you survive!? No one should be able to survive that! Let's see how you like THIS!" Shadow did a spin dash and tried to run down Harry Potter Obama. However, Harry Potter Obama took a swing at Shadow and knocked him back. Luckily, Shadow recovered and landed on his feet.

"You're starting to annoy me, faker! CHAOS CONTROL!" With time briefly frozen, Shadow got behind Harry Potter Obama. Just as the power wore off, Shadow pulled out a Walther P-38, a pistol from another place & time.

"Time to die, Sonic!" Shadow emptied the entire magazine into Harry Potter Obama, but the bullets didn't have much effect other than making Harry Potter Obama angry. He turned around and charged at Shadow. However, Shadow dodged him. Having evaded the attack, Shadow holstered his P-38 and withdrew a Smith & Wesson Model 29.

"Let's see how you like this!" Shadow fired all six shots at Harry Potter Obama with deadly accuracy. While Harry Potter Obama managed to survive, the .44 Magnum seemed to do a bit better than the 9mm P-38. Harry Potter Obama was really angry now. He continued charging at Shadow. Even without having to use Chaos Control, the black-and-red hedgehog had good dodging skills.

After dodging another one of Harry Potter Obama's attacks, Shadow hit the mutant hedgehog with a spin dash. Harry Potter Obama was briefly knocked down, but recovered quickly and kept charging at Shadow.

"Here, have some more!" Shadow fired a few more shots at Harry Potter Obama. "CHAOS CONTROL!" He jumped on the mutant hedgehog's back. However, Harry Potter Obama took a swing at Shadow and hit him quite hard. He hit the ground, but he got to his feet quickly. Unfortunately, Harry Potter Obama was right on him at that moment. The mutant hedgehog picked Shadow up and started slamming him into the ground. When he was done, he threw Shadow at a boulder, which shattered like a pane of glass. Shadow was knocked cold and lost his gun.

Harry Potter Obama believed that he had won, and thus turned away. While he was leaving, though, he suddenly found Shadow in his path.

"Now I'm really angry!" exclaimed Shadow. "CHAOS…LANCE!" Shadow fired a more powerful bolt at Harry Potter Obama, which exploded and knocked the fake hedgehog back. Still, he kept coming.

"You're growing weak! Give it up!" shouted Shadow. Suddenly, Silver arrived from the future. "What the hell are you doing here!?" demanded Shadow.

"It's about the future!" replied Silver. "Something's wrong; it keeps fluctuating! Everything's going haywire!"

"That is of no concern to me! Look!" Shadow pointed out Harry Potter Obama.

"Is he the one who's been causing the problems?" said Silver.

"Maybe he is; maybe he isn't. Now step aside, Future Boy!" Shadow continued fighting Harry Potter Obama, but without much apparent progress.

"It's no use! That thing is too powerful!"

"I am the Ultimate Life Form! Nothing is too powerful for me!" True, Harry Potter Obama had been growing weak, but he was still going strong.

"Here! This will end it!" Silver stepped in and used a psychic energy blast to hit Harry Potter Obama.

"What are you doing!? I SAID GET BACK!" yelled Shadow.

"NO!" snapped Silver. "I won't let him defeat you!"

"FINE! It's your own fault if you get hurt, though!" Thus, Shadow & Silver worked together to fight Harry Potter Obama. With Silver on the case, combined with Shadow's Chaos Powers, the Sonic pretender had no hope of winning now. As Harry Potter Obama grew ever weaker, Shadow launched another spin dash at him and knocked him into a tree, which toppled over onto the mutant hedgehog. Harry Potter Obama was dead, and his corpse changed back into its non-muscle bound form.

With the battle finished, Shadow freed Cheese and went to look for his Magnum. At that time, Cream & Vanilla showed up.

"We got here as fast as we could!" said Vanilla. "How's Cheese?"

"He's fine," replied Shadow, who handed the Chao back to Cream.

"Oh, thank you, Mr…" said Cream, who trailed off when she caught something out of the corner of her eye. It was Harry Potter Obama's body! She ran over to it.

"NOOO! You killed Sonic!" exclaimed Cream, who started crying again.

"Wait, you don't understand!" said Silver. "That's not the real Sonic!"

"It's…not?" said Cream, who calmed down.

"No," said Silver. "Whatever this is, though, it sure caused a lot of trouble!"

"HA! I always knew Sonic was a faker!" exclaimed Shadow.

"But that's not…"

"I am the one true hedgehog! AHAHAHA!" Silver decided not to respond to Shadow's erroneous proclamation.

"Now if you'll excuse me," said Shadow, calmer and more composed, "I must be going now."

"Wait, please don't leave yet!" said Vanilla.

"What do you want?" asked Shadow.

"Cream, did you want to thank Mr. Shadow?" asked Vanilla.

"Of course! Thank you, Mr. Shadow!" said Cream, who gave Shadow a hug, as did Cheese. Vanilla & Silver both smiled. Shadow didn't respond, though.

After the hug, Shadow said, "If you shall excuse me, I have other matters to attend to. But first, I must ask: Do either of you have any apple strudel?"

Vanilla & Cream both said "no".

"Very well. Goodbye." Said Shadow

"Bye!" said Cream. "See you later, Mr. Shadow!" She, Vanilla & Cheese all went back home.

"As for you…" said Shadow, pointing to Silver, "…get out of my sight!"

"As you wish, Shadow," replied Silver. "Is that the thanks I get for my assistance? How rude!" thought Silver as he returned to the future.

Shadow, meanwhile, conducted a brief search for his Model 29, which he found a couple of feet away from the boulder that he slammed into. Having found his piece, he skated off into the Great Forest…

* * *

**NOTES/TRIVIA:**

**-There was no "Rosen's Bakery" in 1977 NYC as far as I know, but there is a "David Rosen Bakery Supply" in Brooklyn nowadays.  
**

**-Other than that, pretty much all the locations that Sonic visits (barring the bank, maybe) are real.  
**


	12. Chapter 12: Hedgehogs at Play

Sonic made it back to the apartment before Sharon came home from work. To amuse himself, he decided to listen to the radio until she got home.

"Hi, Sonic!" said Sharon. "How was your day?"

"Boring," said Sonic, even though it was anything but. "Still, it beats gettin' killed."

"I'm sorry, I know how you feel. I just don't want anything to happen to you!"

"It's OK! My friends back home worried about me, too! I mean, that's keen and everything, but I can take care of myself! No jive!"

"Well, it's just…well…"

"Look, Sharon, if you're keepin' me cooped up 'cause you're lonely and ya need a friend, I understand! I just can't stay here too long, though. I'll go to your gig tonight and do whatever else you wanna do with me, too! I mean, we might as well enjoy the time we have together as much as we can, right?

"That's very nice of you, Sonic! Let me get ready, first." Sharon took a shower, dressed up and got ready for tonight. When she came out of her bedroom, she was wearing a dark blue dress with a flower pattern on it. She grabbed her coat, while Sonic got his trench coat & hat, and the two went out for a night on the town.

Before any good night on the town, though, one needs fuel. So, the pair stopped at a local restaurant called Janson's Restaurant, on West 4th Street. Janson's was a nice local restaurant with good food for good prices. Sharon ordered a grilled chicken breast & a 7-Up, while Sonic ordered ten chili dogs & a Coke.

"Oh my god!" exclaimed Sharon after the waitress left. "Are you serious!?"

"Yes I am!" replied Sonic.

"Sonic, do you even know what that's going to do to you!? You'll get sick!"

"Cool it, Sharon! I can handle it!"

"Well…all right. I was just concerned about your health, you know?"

"I know. That's kosher with me! Hey, can I ask ya somethin'?"

"What is it?"

"Ya mind if I call you 'Shar'?"

"No, go right ahead!"

"OK, Shar!"

Soon enough, their food arrived. Sonic wasted no time in wolfing down his chili dogs.

"That's…that's incredible!" remarked Sharon. "Oh, I should feel so disgusted by this, but I actually find this pretty amazing, too!"

Sonic paused for a moment and said, "Hey, like I said, I'm the most amazing hedgehog in the world!"

"Well, you certainly must be!" said Sharon. "You're the first talking hedgehog I've ever seen! Heck, you're the first blue hedgehog I've ever seen, too!"

After a stimulating conversation and a fulfilling dinner, Sonic paid the tab, much to Sharon's thanks. Since they had some time to kill before the show, they took a cab to the Empire State Building, coming up to the top floor observation deck.

"Man, the view up here is sweet!" exclaimed Sonic.

"Isn't it beautiful?" asked Sharon.

"You know, I've been thinkin'…you're right, Shar. I suppose this city ain't so bad after all! Maybe I could get used to it!"

"Well, I'm glad you're having fun, Sonic!"

"Yeah, too bad I gotta go soon. If I could bring my friends here, I would! I might even bring them to one of your gigs, too!"

"Oh, speaking of that, we should get going pretty soon!" So, Sonic & Sharon went back down to the ground level and got a cab so they could get to the Village Vanguard. However, when they got in, Sonic was in for a rather rude surprise:

"Hey, ain't you that asshole that stepped in front of my cab the other day?"

"How did you know?" asked Sonic.

"That disguise ain't foolin' me, kid!" replied the driver. "My mind's as sharp as a nail!"

"Look, I said I was sorry! I even looked both ways!"

"Well, look some other ways next time, OK?"

"Sonic, what's all this about?" asked Sharon.

"I'll explain later, Shar!" replied Sonic. The ride over to the Village Vanguard was marked by a feeling of awkwardness. Thankfully, it didn't last too long. When they arrived, Sonic changed into a tuxedo.

* * *

The Village Vanguard was located at 178 7th Avenue South. It was a small place with a classy atmosphere. What really set the Village Vanguard apart was a certain something: Having played host to famous jazz musicians such as Miles Davis, Thelonius Monk, Charlie Mingus and others, it was said that the spirits of these musicians still permeated the room. But enough about that! Sharon's band was doing a soundcheck prior to the show itself. Sonic even got invited backstage, something that he was excited about, though the soundcheck gave him some second thoughts about coming.

Later, the MC announced "And now, ladies and gentlemen, Miss Sharon St. Martin and her Homegrown Band!", and the show was on. Sharon & the band played some cover versions of old standards plus some original, improvised numbers, none of which appealed to Sonic. However, Sharon had one more thing up her sleeves: For her last number, she sang an original tune – a soft, midtempo number. Modern audiences might recognize the melody from Star Light Zone from the first _Sonic the Hedgehog_. Here's a sample:

"I used to think

That love was beyond my reach.

Like the stars,

Out so far,

Something that no one could teach.

A real myth.

But I found you,

You helped me to realize

I'm not blind.

I can find

What I thought was a pack of lies!

From the bottom of my heart,

I thank you so much!

You are funny, kind and smart,

You really mean so much!

You're the first that I've cared for,

You make my days bright!

I love you forevermore,

You're my star light!"

This one really got the audience's attention. Even Sonic was moved to tears by it! When Sharon got the kind of applause that she did for that number, she knew that she was headed for greater things. She went backstage and met with Sonic.

"Shar, that was way past cool!" exclaimed Sonic. "You oughta be a star!"

"Wow, you really think so, Sonic!?" asked Sharon.

"Right on!"

"Thanks! That was really sweet of you!" Sharon gave Sonic a hug. They turned around and started to leave when they were approached by a stocky man in a suit & tie. His jet black hair was impeccably combed.

"Hey, that was an amazing performance!" said the man.

"Oh, thanks!" said Sharon, surprised by the appearance of this stranger. "But what are you doing here?"

"Oh, sorry, I forgot to introduce myself!" said the man. "I'm Dominic Colson, talent scout for Blue Sphere Records!"

"Nice to meet you," said Sharon, who shook hands with Dominic.

"Anyways, like I said," began Dominic, "that performance was amazing, real dynamite! You're just the kind of singer we'd love to have on board! We're offering you a $5,000 advance if you'll sign with us! You want in?"

Suddenly, Sharon's tone changed. "Well, gee…I'd love to," she replied, "but…"

Sensing that Sharon was nervous, Sonic gently tugged her hand. "Excuse me for a moment," said Sharon, who went to another corner of the backstage area with Sonic.

"Yo Shar, what's goin' on?" asked Sonic.

"I can't do this!" said Sharon.

"Why not? What's wrong?"

"I don't know. I…I'm just so…nervous!"

"Chill out! It'll be fine!"

"Sonic, you don't understand! This is just so…it's just…I…different!"

"Come on, Shar, you can do this! Isn't this what ya wanted?"

"Well yeah…but…oh gosh, I don't even know anymore, Sonic!"

"Look, Shar, you're the one who told me ya wanted to be a famous singer! You told me never to give up hope, too! You also told me that after a while, I'd get used to my new surroundings! Well, now I'm tellin' ya this, Sharon: When life hands ya an opportunity like this, take it right away! Take it when ya can! It's the only way to live a life without regrets! Now, I get that you're nervous and all that, but it'll be all right! Sure, it could be pretty challenging, but I believe in you! Whaddaya say, Shar, are ya in or what?"

Sonic gave Sharon a friendly smile. As her eyes locked with his, Sharon realized that Sonic was right. Why let this slip through her fingers?

"Oh, Sonic!" Sharon gave Big Blue a hug, which he returned.

"Well, what'll it be?" asked Dominic. Sharon walked over to him, but Sonic stopped her briefly for another note.

"Hey, don't forget to check the fine print!" said Sonic. "That can be a real killer!" With that in mind, Sharon took the contract and looked it over carefully. Then, without hesitation, she signed on the bottom line, satisfied with the terms and conditions.

"All right, then," said Dominic, who wrote a check for Sharon. "Glad to have ya with us! Here's my card! Have a good night!"

"You too!" said Sharon.

* * *

Despite the fact that Sonic was not to be found in this era, Sally, Bunnie and Antoine believed that they'd located him once again, when in reality, there was only Ogórki.

"Sonic, come back to Knothole, now!" said Sally. "You've got us all worried sick!"

"Oui, and I will 'ave playback for what you were doing to my art!" said Antoine.

However, Ogórki paid no attention to what they said. Rather, he'd fallen into a sort of trance and seemed to be fixated on Sally:

"Nareszcie znalazłem źrenicy mojego oka!" said Ogórki, who slowly approached Sally, "Z twarzą jak ty, mogę również zapomnieć o narkotyki!"

"Sonic, what's going on?" asked Sally, "And why do you smell like pickles!?"

"Jest to zapach miłości, jesteś moją wieczną królową miłości! Chodź, kochać się ze mną!" He then embraced Sally and attempted to kiss her, but she pushed him away.

"Sonic, there's no time for that now. I love you too, but you should take a bath before we kiss."

"Nonsens, moja miłość!" Ogórki tried again. Sally still pushed him away.

"Sonic, stop this! Let's get back to Knothole now!" Ogórki continued his advances and was pushed away again.

"Sonic, stop!" Ironically, Ogórki was being more aggressive with his advances.

"Sonic, y'all better keep away from Sally," said Bunnie, who had her hand on his shoulder.

"Odsuń się, ty głupi szeroki!" said Ogórki, who brushed her away and continued towards Sally.

"Sonic, I said STOP!" exclaimed Sally. In a sudden and perhaps impulsive move, Sally kicked Ogórki, which only made him mad.

"Ty mała suko! Zabiję cię! ZABIJĘ CIĘ!" He tensed all his muscles and turned from green to red. Then, in a fit of rage, he started breathing fire and attempted to burn the Freedom Fighters.

"What in tarnation is goin' on here!?" said Bunnie.

"I don't know, but I am not wanting to become a martial mellow!" replied Antoine, who hid in some nearby bushes. Ogórki went after him, when all of a sudden, six shots rang out! Shadow had arrived and shot Ogórki straight through the heart. The mad fire-breathing hedgehog's life was ended. However, it was a bittersweet victory for the Freedom Fighters.

"NO! You killed him!" shrieked Sally, who fell to her knees and started crying.

"Calm down!" said Shadow. "He was probably a faker, anyways!"

"How can you say such a thing!?" Sally kept crying.

"Because he was! Would the real Sonic have the ability to breathe fire?" Sally still kept crying.

"I have no time for your pathetic sadness right now. I'm going to find the real Sonic."

* * *

Having said goodbye to her band members for now, Sharon left the Village Vanguard with Sonic.

"Thanks, Sonic!" said Sharon. "I didn't think I could do it!"

"No probs, Shar!" said Sonic. "Well, it's been a fun night, but I think we should get goin' now!"

"But I'm having such a good time right now! There's still time for one more thing!"

"I dunno, It's gettin' pretty late and I wanna crash." Sonic yawned.

"Sonic, you said you wanted to enjoy this time as much as you could, right?"

"Well, yeah, but what else are we gonna do?"

"Well…one of my co-workers told me about this one club; I think it was called 'Infinity' or something like that."

"A club? I dunno, Shar…"

"I've wanted to go for a while, but I could never find the will to do it. Sonic, I'd really love to go with you! Please?"

Sonic was still hesitant, but after a few seconds, he relented: "Ah, what the heck. Only thing is, I don't think I got the juice for it. Think we could stop by a store or something?"

"Sure! I even know one that's still open this late!" So, the couple stopped at Oshima's General Mart, a 24-hour convenience store in the Village. Sonic bought himself a couple of Cokes.

With Old Blue feeling recharged, the two took a trip to an austere-looking door on 653 Broadway situated beneath a Victorian façade from the 1870's. It was this door that led to Infinity Disco. Ordinarily a members' club, non-members were admitted when there was room. Luckily for Sonic & Sharon, there just so happened to be room, so they paid the cover charge and were granted access to Infinity.

Behind that austere black door marked "653", there was a veritable boogie wonderland. A former envelope factory, Infinity Disco had a block-long dancefloor that was lit up with some of the most spectacular lighting effects. First of all, there were four disco balls, each encircled by three flashing neon rings. Near the entry, there were four Greek/Roman-style columns that were also encircled by flashing neon rings, increasing in diameter as they went upwards. This whole setup looked brilliant in the black void, but the walls were also lined by some Art Deco-style mirrors that enhanced the sights. If one looked at a mirror correctly, then the neon-ringed disco balls appeared to go on forever, hence the disco's name, "Infinity".

Everyone appeared to be having fun, except Sonic. Despite the thumping sound system and the flashing lights, the music just wasn't doing it for him, so he just faked it. "Ah well, at least Rouge would like this place," thought Sonic. However, the thought of Rouge merely reminded him of all the friends he'd left behind, which got him down further.

Sharon took notice of Sonic's relative inability to groove and asked him, "Sonic, what's wrong?"

"I dunno, Shar!" replied Sonic. "I just ain't feelin' it!"

"Well, come on, Sonic! Let's dance! You'll get it!"

"All right, I'll try!" No matter how hard Big Blue tried, though, it was difficult for him to feel the boogie. However, when the DJ started playing "Supernature" by Cerrone, Sonic started feeling a little something. After "Supernature" came "From Here To Eternity", by Giorgio Moroder, which further increased Sonic's desire to get down.

It wasn't until the DJ put the needle to "Lovin' Is Really My Game" by Brainstorm, though, that Sonic really got the fever. He shed his old getup and put on a white disco suit, and he proceeded to get down with the groove for real. Sonic was doing some dynamite dance moves, including a few that he invented himself: The Chili Dog, the Angel Island Hustle & the Flicky. His dance moves really impressed people, especially Sharon, who he grabbed by the hand and invited to his little dance fest. The DJ kept up the dance energy with tunes such as "I Found Love On a Disco Floor" by The Temprees, "Conquest of the Stars" by Space Project & "Do You Have The Force?" by The Droids. Sonic was really firewallin' the dancefloor. However, Sharon found it hard to keep up with the Blue Blur and eventually tired out.

"OK, Sonic…I think we gotta stop!" said Sharon.

"Why stop now?" asked Sonic. "I'm havin' too much fun!"

"Really…I'm tired! I think you wore me out!"

"What, can't keep up with the groove? Ah well, I guess we can't be dancin' all the time! Let's ditch this taco stand!"

Outside Infinity, Sonic & Sharon were waiting for a cab.

"Man, I thought discos were lame!" exclaimed Sonic. "You sure proved me wrong, Shar!"

"Sonic, that was so much fun!" said Sharon. "Thank you for coming with me!"

"No problem, baby!"

However, before they could get a cab, they were ambushed by a gang of muggers, most of whom carried melee weapons, and two of whom carried guns.

"Give us the money!" ordered one of the muggers.

"Come on, hand over the dough, suckas!" ordered another.

"NO! Please don't hurt me!" begged Sharon.

"Get bent! You ain't robbin' this hedgehog!" exclaimed Sonic.

"Shut up and empty your pockets!" ordered one of the gun-toting muggers.

"Oh, all right," said Sonic, who reached for one of his pockets. However, he faked them out and knocked a couple of them down with a spin dash.

"Hey, what the hell…" said the other gun-toting mugger, who attempted to aim for Sonic. Before he could shoot, Sonic knocked him and one of his cohorts out with another spin dash. The other muggers got the point.

"Let's get out of here!" said one of the still-standing muggers, who ran away with his other friends.

"Sonic, thank you again!" said Sharon, who gave Sonic a big hug, which he returned.

"Once again, it was my pleasure!" said Sonic. "Now, let's go before anyone else shows!"

* * *

Having defeated Ogórki, Shadow was going to leave when Bunnie tapped him on the shoulder.

"Uh, Shadow…y'all better take a look at this," said Bunnie.

"What is there to see?" asked Shadow. "That insane hedgehog's dead!"

"I don't think he's dead…" Shadow ignored Bunnie and kept walking.

"Well, of course he is! No one gets back up after taking six .44 Magnum bullets to the heart!"

However, a deep growling noise got the Ultimate Life Form's attention. He turned around to discover that Ogórki had morphed into a large green-and-red dragon.

"LENKOS VISAGAL DRACON!" bellowed Ogórki

"BRING IT ON!" shouted Shadow "I've taken down demons more powerful than you! CHAOS LANCE!" Shadow fired one at Ogórki, but the dragon simply shook off the attack.

"DRACON IGNIS BATAR!" Ogórki started breathing fire and lit up parts of the Great Forest. Sally, Bunnie & Antoine retreated to a safe distance. Shadow, however, was too determined to back down.

"CHAOS CONTROL!" shouted Shadow. With time frozen, he hopped onto some (unburnt) trees, climbed Ogórki's back and up to his head. Up on Ogórki's head, Shadow pulled out his Model 29. He shoved the little hand cannon into the dragon's eye and fired.

By this time, though, Chaos Control had worn off, and when Ogórki became aware of the little black-and-red hedgehog atop his head, he attempted to shake Shadow off. Shadow held on tightly and attempted Chaos Control again. However, he lost his grip before he could fully execute the move and plummeted to the ground below, dropping his Chaos Emerald & his gun in the process. The Emerald struck a tree and opened a portal! Blaze exited the portal.

"What is going on here?" wondered Blaze. When she looked up at Ogórki, she was astonished.

"It's…it's you!" exclaimed Blaze. "Why have you entered this dimension!? On second thought, that is of little concern to me. Now, we shall see who the true master of the flame is!" With that, she summoned the power of the Sol Emeralds and transformed into Burning Blaze. In this form, her fur color turned pink and she was surrounded by an aura of flame. She was just about to take on Ogórki when Shadow took notice of her.

"What do you think you're doing here, Princess!?" inquired Shadow.

"It's about Gurkon," replied Blaze. "He has escaped and now I must deal with him!"

"Well, stand aside and let me take care of it!"

"No, you do not understand! He is too powerful! Only I can defeat him, so allow me to do this by myself!"

"Nothing is too powerful for me, for I am the Ultimate Life Form!"

"I must do this without help! Delay me no further!"

"I have no time for this argument. Do what you will! I take no responsibility if you get injured, though!" With that, Shadow stepped aside and let Blaze take action. Ogórki/Gurkon was a real tough customer, but in her Burning form, Blaze was more than a match for the dragon. By using fireball attacks and by manipulating any fires that Ogórki/Gurkon had already set, Blaze made rather short work of that dragon. However, Shadow wasn't one to stand aside. First, he searched for his Chaos Emerald. Then, he ran towards the area where Ogórki/Gurkon had fallen. The green-and-red behemoth was still alive, but barely.

"CHAOS BLAST!" The resulting blast wave destroyed Ogórki/Gurkon, plus a few trees. While the loss of trees was unfortunate, it did quell the fires somewhat.

"And now, I must return!" said Blaze, when all of a sudden, she noticed the oncoming wave of stealthbots. This group was larger than a typical recon group. In fact, these guys were on an attack run towards the Great Forest.

"They dare challenge us?" questioned Blaze. "Then they too shall know the true power of the flame!" With that, Blaze drew the rest of the fires created by Ogórki/Gurkon and hit most of the stealthbots with a massive fire attack. Shadow destroyed the rest with Chaos Lance attacks.

Believing her job to be done, Blaze said "The demon has been vanquished! Farewell, Shadow!" With that, she returned to the Sol Dimension.

Shadow, meanwhile, searched the immediate area for his Model 29. During the search, he ran into Sally, Bunnie & Antoine again.

"Shadow…what just happened?" asked Sally.

"I don't know," replied Shadow, "but once Sonic gets back, I'm gonna have a little talk with him."

"Oui, I shall 'ave a talking with 'im, too!" said Antoine. Afterwards, Shadow kept looking for his gun.

* * *

Meanwhile, in New York City, Sonic & Sharon got back to the apartment and had changed from their evening wear.

"Sonic, I…I can't thank you enough for what you've done!" said Sharon. "That was the most exciting night of my life!"

"Yeah, that was somethin', wasn't it?" said Sonic. "Too bad about that close call, huh?"

"About that…Now, I've been here for about four years, and since then, I've had a bunch of things stolen from me. I'm so glad I had you there to protect me!"

"Ain't no thang, Shar!"

"Oh, and Sonic…"

"Yes, Shar?"

"…I love you." With that, Sharon knelt to Sonic's level, embraced him and gave him a kiss. However, Sonic gently pushed her away.

"What's wrong, Sonic?" asked Sharon.

"Shar…I'm sorry, but…this doesn't feel right," replied Sonic. "Actually, I gotta confess: I kinda already got a girlfriend."

Surprisingly enough, Sharon responded: "Oh, don't worry, Sonic; this is the 70's! A bunch of people I know are seeing more than one person! Just…make sure they're fine with it, OK?"

"Well, I guess it couldn't hurt," said Sonic. "Only problem is, you're a human & I'm a hedgehog!"

"That's fine with me! You're very human for a hedgehog, and after all, love could mean a lot of things, right?"

"You're right. Plus, I guess I'm not one to turn down thanks from a lady!" With that, the two continued their loving embrace. Contrary to certain readers' thoughts or expectations, they did not perform certain…"acts" with each other. Sharon did, however, trust Sonic enough to let him cuddle with her in bed. This would not be long-lived, however, because in those early morning hours, Sonic would be teleported again during his sleep…

* * *

**NOTES/TRIVIA:**

**-Again, Janson's Restaurant & Oshima's General Store are made up, but everything else (except maybe Sharon's apartment) is the real McCoy! Like I said, though, this is fiction, blah blah blah...  
**


	13. Chapter 13: Keeping the Doctor Away

When Sonic came to, he was on a floating island of stone in the middle of a misty blue void. Strangely, he was feeling refreshed, as if he had gotten a good night's sleep. Awaiting him was a mysterious being, a man with a lion's head who was wearing a long cape.

"Wha…where am I now?" asked Sonic, puzzled by his new surroundings.

"Sonic the Hedgehog…" began the mysterious being, who spoke with a smooth, yet powerful voice.

"Eh? How do ya know my name?" asked Sonic.

"I am the Keeper of Time & Space," said the being. "I bore witness as you were cast into that dimension by the one you call 'Robotnik'. I also watched every action you undertook in the scenarios that were given to you, and I am disappointed."

"What'd I do wrong?"

"You had a unique opportunity to observe cultures different from your own. Since my ability to return you to your correct dimension was not possible due to those two beings, I had no choice but to witness your journey through the dimension in which you were trapped. Alas, though the other beings are now vanquished, I still cannot allow you to return because of your interfering ways."

"OK, so maybe the race with the horse & carriage wasn't such a groovy idea! Look, I'm sorry and I won't do it again! Now can ya let me get back!? My friends must be flippin' out by now!"

"Not yet. Sonic the Hedgehog, you must repent for the interferences that you have caused in that dimension. In order to get where you need to be, you must answer me these questions three, 'ere the other side you see!"

"OK, lay it on me!"

"First question: Why did Luke Skywalker switch off his targeting computer?"

"That's easy! The Force was with him, baby!"

"Correct! Second question: Was there ever a resident of Salem Village named 'Joe Mama'?"

"No, I guess not."

"Correct again! Third question: If we wanted further to know not only which are men and which are horses, but which men or horses have powers of running, would the many still be able to inform us?"

Sonic was absolutely puzzled, but after a few seconds, he countered with: "Ya mean like white horses or brown horses?"

"What!?" replied the Keeper. "I don't know that!" Suddenly, the Keeper was struck by lightning and fell to the ground. Luckily, he landed on his feet.

"You…" said the Keeper, kneeling before Sonic. "You have bested me! Your penance is complete! Fare thee well, Sonic the Hedgehog!" And thus, Sonic the Hedgehog was teleported one last time…

* * *

Back in the Great Forest, Tails & Rotor were defending against Robotnik's incoming forces using the laser cannon that Rotor built. The laser was working fine and had plenty of firepower to deal with the stealthbots. However, there was one problem…

"Oh no, we're out of power!" exclaimed Rotor. "There's still more of them, too!"

"What are we going to do now!?" asked Tails. "Come on, Sonic, where are you!?" he thought. Luckily, Sonic wasn't too far behind, though he'd probably aged by a couple of days due to all the time he'd spent in that other dimension. Having returned to his own time & place, the blue speed demon was about to rejoice when he noticed the horde of stealthbots coming in.

"Is that the kinda welcome I get for comin' home?" wondered Sonic. "Bummer, I was hopin' for a ticker-tape parade!" Then, Sonic noticed a Power Ring that somebody – probably him – had dropped. He went over and picked it up.

"Oh yeah! Jam & jelly time!" exclaimed Sonic, who jumped to the treetops, jumped to one of the incoming stealthbots and proceeded to wreck them all, much to Dr. Robotnik's chagrin.

Having witnessed Sonic's path of carnage via one of the stealthbot cameras, Robotnik shouted, "I HATE THAT HEDGEHOG!"

When all was said & done, Sonic went over to meet Tails & Rotor.

"Sonic, you're back!" exclaimed Tails, who gave Sonic a hug.

"Good to see ya again, ol' buddy!" said Sonic.

"Man, we were worried about you!" said Rotor. "Where have you been going?"

"Well, you would NOT believe the trip I just took!" replied Sonic. "Did the laser work all right?"

"Fine! Thanks for getting the battery packs! We couldn't have held off Robotnik's forces without your help!"

"Hey, it's copacetic, Rote! Always glad to help! Now, let's get back home, shall we?"

* * *

Sonic, Tails & Rotor brought the anti-aircraft laser back to Knothole. Not too much had changed since the famous blue hedgehog had been usurped from his own home.

"Hey Sonic, check it out!" said Tails, who showed Sonic a rather familiar-looking bike. It was Sonic's YZ400! However, the bike was looking cleaner than it did before. Moreover, it was now painted blue with red & yellow stripes. It still said "Yamaha" on the gas tank, but it also said "Sonic" above the word "Yamaha".

"Lookin' good, my man!" said Sonic. "So, what's the skinny?"

"Well, I replaced the cylinder head, piston, crankcase, forks, shocks and swingarm with lightweight components made of a special titanium-magnacarbide alloy. Then, I tuned the carburetor and changed the gear spacing in the transmission for optimal power, torque & efficiency throughout the powerband. The shocks are also filled with Igon gas so…"

"In English, Tails!"

"I souped up your bike so it's faster, more powerful and handles better!"

"Groovy! I'm gonna call this machine the 'Whirlwind'! Now, there should be plenty of time to test this bad dude out before it gets dark! Let's ride!"

"A-HEM!" Sonic was just about to walk over to his motorcycle when he felt somebody tap him on the shoulder. "SONIIIIIIIIIIIIC!" He turned around to see Sally, Amy, Shadow, Rouge & Antoine, who were all angry at him.

"What!? What'd I do?" asked Sonic, who was confused as to why his friends were mad. They all took a couple steps towards him.

"Look, I can see you're ticked off, but I'm sure we can work somethin' out here, right?" said Sonic. His friends were still angry and kept moving towards him.

"Hey, I'd love to stay and chat," said Sonic, "but, uh…Gotta fly, guys!" Sonic jumped out a nearby window and started running.

"GET BACK HERE!" Sally, Amy, Shadow, Rouge & Antoine attempted to chase Sonic down and catch him, but he was just too fast. On the bright side, despite having been accused of doing things that he didn't do, at least Sonic was home. In time, his friends would learn the truth and would forgive him for any misdeeds that they thought he'd committed, and all would be well.

* * *

Back in New York City, Sharon awoke to find that Sonic wasn't there. She thought that he might have gone out into the city, or that he might have left the city altogether. When she went over to the dining room table, she found a bunch of objects: Sonic's leftover US money (actually, he'd taken a couple of bills as souvenirs), a Colt Python revolver in blued steel with the Black Arms emblem etched into the walnut grips plus two boxes of .357 Magnum ammo, at a total of 100 rounds. The boxes were of plain cardboard and were marked ".357 MAGNUM, 195 GRAIN AP, TUNGSTEN PENETRATOR WITH DEPLETED UMBRONIUM CORE, BOXER PRIMED, NON-CORROSIVE". However, there was also a note on the table, which Sharon read first:

"Dear Sharon:

By the time you read this note, I'll be up, over and gone. I'm sorry I couldn't chill longer, but that road goes on and on into the sunset, and my destiny is bound to move me on. Besides, I kinda had a relationship with a human before; it didn't exactly work out and I don't like to talk about it.

See, here's the truth: I come from a place called Mobius, which probably ain't on your planet. I'm fighting this mad scientist named Dr. Robotnik (a.k.a. Dr. Eggman) who took over the joint and turned most of the people into robots. Remember Emerald City? Well, it's now Eggopolis because Robotnik took over. Now, I also got a bunch of friends who are helping me to whoop Robotnik's tush, and they're all talking animals like me, see? For example, there's my best buddy Tails, who's a flying fox. But then there are also all these other dudes, too, like Shadow. He looks kinda like me, but he's not. Then again, ya probably wouldn't want to hang with Shadow, anyways. Well, I'd love to tell ya about all my other friends, but I'm afraid you'd think that there were too many characters.

I'm sorry I didn't tell ya all of this earlier, but I was afraid ya wouldn't believe me. Plus, I couldn't just tell ya 'I don't love you and I don't want to see you anymore'. That ain't the truth! Look, I know I already told ya I got a girl, but believe me, I love ya just as much as her and all my other friends, and I'm gonna miss ya very much!

Anyways, I just wanted to wrap up by saying good luck with your singing career. I'll never forget ya, Sharon, and I'll always believe in ya no matter where we are!

-Yours truly,

Sonic the Hedgehog,

The Fastest Thing Alive.

P.S., Shadow gave me the heater as a gift. Personally, I wouldn't be caught dead using that thing, so I was saving it until I found somebody who might need it, and you looked like ya might need it, so I'm giving it to you! Be careful with it now!"

Sharon began crying when she read the note. After all, Sonic had meant so much to her; he was probably the first one other than her parents that she deeply cared about, and now she was never gonna see him again. On the other hand, Sonic had taught her a number of things, such as the value of companionship and the importance of standing up for oneself. For the first time in her life, she could truly look to the future with confidence, with genuine hope, and it was all because of a little blue hedgehog.

Heck, Sharon was going to have to stand up for herself, because it wouldn't be long before New York City saw some of the darkest days in its history…

* * *

**NOTES/TRIVIA:**

**-Umbronium is a fictional radioactive substance.  
**


	14. Sonic Says

One day, in the Great Forest, Sonic was enjoying the surroundings. Only, Sonic was colored red instead of blue.

"Ah, there's nothin' like the smell of the fresh weed!" said Red Sonic. "Smoking weed can take you to faraway lands and exotic worlds! Whoa!" The true Sonic pushed this red faker aside and took center stage.

"You know, I use plenty of disguises during my missions," said Sonic, "but in real life, you shouldn't pretend to be somebody you're not! You could seriously end up ruining someone's life that way! So remember, when you're not on an undercover mission, play it cool! Be yourself! That's Sonic's rule!

_[fade to a music video of "Y.M.C.A." by the Village People, with Sonic as the cop, Tails as the construction worker, Knuckles as the Indian chief, Shadow as the biker/leatherman, Silver as the cowboy and Antoine as the soldier]_

* * *

***Special thanks to YouTube user knucklehand!  
**


End file.
